Omkara (2006)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Vishal Bhardwaj

Writers:

Vishal Bhardwaj (screenplay) and
Robin Bhatt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 July 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The film is Vishal Bharadwaj's adaption of the Shakespeare masterpiece "Othello".

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Dark Hero | Shakespeare In Modern Dress | Motorcycle | Tragedy

Awards:

13 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Ajay Devgan	...	Omkara 'Omi' Shukla
Kareena Kapoor	...	Dolly Mishra
Saif Ali Khan	...	Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi
Konkona Sen Sharma	...	Indu
Vivek Oberoi	...	Keshav 'Kesu Firangi' Upadhyay (as Viveik Oberoi)
Bipasha Basu	...	Chamanbahar 'Billo'
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Bhaisaab
Deepak Dobriyal	...	Rajoh Tiwari
Manav Kaushik	...	Surendra Kaptaan
Kamal Tiwari	...	Advocate Raghunath Mishra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chetana Das
Rahul Kumar	...	Langda Tyagi's Son
Pankaj Tripathy	...	Kichlu

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi | Assamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

India:A

Filming Locations:

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Company:

Big Screen Entertainment

Trivia:

The title of the film, "Omkara", was decided by a contest that was open to the public. Three names were shortlisted for the title and the general public voted in by SMS to choose their favorite. The selected names included "Omkara", "O Saathi Re" and "Issak" (the western UP pronunciation of the word "Ishq"). The public voted overwhelmingly in favor of "Omkara". However, all three of the possible titles are songs on the soundtrack ("Issak" being another name for the song "Namak").

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Enfield rifle that Langda Tiyagi (Saif) is shown shooting so accurately does not have a rear sight. The lack of it is plainly visible through the movie but even more so in the scene when he shoots the tires off the marriage bus.

Quotes:

Langda Tyagi: I'll teach you how to fly.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dostana (2008)

Soundtrack:

Beedi

Omkara

I just recently watched Omkara. I felt that the movie was hard to follow during the first half of the film due to the UP slang and I was completely reliant on the subtitles. The movie was very well directed however you really have to watch the movie very intently in order to grasp the plot. I felt that was the only flaw of the film. Saif Ali Khan's portrayal of Iago was outstanding. Konkanya brought light to the movie through her humorous dialog. Saif and Konkanya's performance shine in this film. I was disappointed with Ajay Devgan's performance. I have read Othello and I felt that Ajay Devgan didn't depict the character Othello properly. I felt that his portrayal of Othello was one dimensional and I didn't see the multi dimensional portrayal of Othello which is a crucial aspect of the character Othello. In Shakespeare's works, the characters tend to quite multi dimensional, and have layers of emotion which I didn't see in Ajay Devgan's performance. In Othello, Othello is torn between jealousy and his love for his wife Desdemona and I really did not see that portrayed in Ajay Devgan's performance.