Omkara (2006)

Bharadhwaj knows how to takes a Shakespeare tragedy and make it completely his own version rooted firmly in Indian soil. The ensemble cast is brilliant in outperforming each other at every given opportunity it's impossible to praise just one of them. Music by Bharadwaj himself is atmospheric along with the cinematography. The lyrics to the songs were also amazing as in they all foreshadow the coming events of this version of Othello. The only small problem I felt was in the editing and the fact that I am not a big fan of Othello itself. Even though I understand Hindi, due to heavy dialects used I was missing some words and used an English subtitle and it does no justice to the wonderful dialogue in the film. I don't know if there are better subtitles but, with the one I used, someone who doesn't understand Hindi wouldn't even have half the impact of the movie.

Omkara starts out with a few colorful lines uttered by Langda Tyagi that catch your attention from the start. From there on, the viewer is glued to a story with hard hitting drama and even some out of life situations. Vishal Bharadwaj makes a desi Othello and he does full justice to the Shakespeare play. Honestly, nobody could have done a better job.In modern day UP, India where there is outlaw rule. Omkara, a half Brahmin is out to marry a full Brahmin Dolly against her father's wishes. Alongside this, Omi is also to pick the new "Bhau Bhalli" since he is being promoted. When Omi picks Kesu, a youngster over his right hand man Langda - starts a story that consists of jealousy, intensity, drama, and passion.There are too many brilliant sequences in Omkara. The first scene featuring Langda and Rajju is sheer brilliance. Not to forget the scene when Omi takes Dolly and the scenes between Omi and Dolly's father. The planning by Langda is first rate. The climax is of course shocking.The screenplay in the second half does get a bit slow but the climax makes up for it.Vishal Bharadwaj's music is underrated. Beedi being the best. However, other numbers are also excellent.One of the best things about Omkara is the writing. Not just story and screenplay but also the dialogue. So real and yet hard hitting. Some of the best lines ever written.Bharadwaj is a brilliant director and there is no question. However, with Omkara he proves he's unstoppable given an excellent story. His best work yet. One also has to give it up to him for casting every actor properly.Ajay Devgan is perfect for the role and he shows dominance through the film. A terrific role for one of the finest actors India has ever produced. Brilliant. Vivek Oberoi is Effective but takes a backseat in the second half. Kareena Kapoor is subtle yet says so much with her character. Excellent. Konkona is another fabulous actress and here too she gives a first rate act. Naseer is as always. Bipasha is okay. Komal Tiwari is efficient as Dolly's father.Another actor worth mentioning is Deepak Dobriyal as Rajju. Such a talent he is.All said and done, taking Langda Tiyagi out of Omkara would make this film not even half as good. Saif Ali Khan gives his career best performance as the crippled evil mastermind. The dialect, expressions, lines, look - it's one of the best characters written in the Hindi film industry. There really isn't an adjective one can use to describe his performance. All I will say is that this act takes the movie notches higher than it already was.Overall, a drama worth every penny. Watch it for the dialogue, the screenplay, the music, the actors - whatever you want. I do know that once you see it, you will watch it again just for Langda Tiyagi.

This movie was more of abusive words rather a real neat story line.. I didn't enjoyed movie and movie was moving as per the expectation without any passion. The only thing good in film was its end and the justified killings (except for 2-3 innocent people). Saif was overacting in the film and others were as usual..konkana was only outstanding. It can no way be compared to any great love stories of Shakespeare's or else. Though movie was well directed. I could not give more than 6 to this movie.. as it was not upto expectation. Also songs like bidi and all are mean and senseless.. such songs will not drive Hindi movies to better places..

Vishal's Omkara is stunning. That's how I have to describe it. Everyone in the movie from Ajay to the man who played the character of Tyagi's friend are superb. I heard Vishal put all his money into this movie and did not take a single paisa as remuneration. That proves how cinema dedicated he is.My favorite in the movie is Ajay because he has shown such an intensity in his eyes and maintained that jealousy thing for the most part of the movie. One can actually learn from this character like why not to be like him and what would be the consequence if be like him. The pinnacle of the result of being jealous is shown in this movie. This may sound ridiculous but we all human beings have this feeling called jealousy and we have to remove that feeling from our within lest it removes you->.The bottom line is Jealousy -> Destruction.I wonder Shakesphear wrote this Othello some very long long time ago and it still looks so fresh in this advanced age and will remain so.I must write something about Gulzar Saab here. He used lot of words/expressions like 'dashrath ka vada', 'beedi jalaile jigar se piya', and lot of such words in the song 'naina...'. ANd the music and the picturization remain faithful to those wonderful lyrics.