"Bekoof aur chootiya me dhage bhar ka phark haiga bhaiya. Dhage ke ek taraf bekoof aur dooji taraf chootiya. Je dhaga aich lo, te phir kon bekoof aur kon chootiya, karor rupaiyaka prasan hai ga bhaiya."
These are the opening lines of a movie that has magical music, good cinematography and over all --strongest story line. Credit goes not only to Shakepeares Othello, but also to Vishal Bhardwaj who has done an excellent job of adoption -- very powerful.
The common thread of the movie is Saif Ali Khan, who has given a power house performance -- a word I use only for Denzel Washington.
Music and songs are great -- Naina, Omkara and Saathi are parexcellence. The music supporting the mood of Langda or Omi actually takes you to the depths of their minds.
The movie cuts your thought process like a hot knife on a slice of butter, smooth without any jerks. The way story moves ahead and shapes Lagdas character is worth watching. How a dedicated man now filled with vengence plans a flawless tragedy. The end will make you think, even cry, that much faith I have in the story of Shakespeare and the narration of Bhardwaj.
I read the comments on Raja's review and felt Indian audience is yet to mature on understanding cinema, perhaps the reason why Bollywood films stand nowhere in comparision to the works of world cinema (how hard we try to sneak into Cannes with superficial glamor!) Omkara has been a very remarkable step towards good filmmaking. While I agree with Raja's comments on language, histrionics, sets and cinematography.. the one aspect that seriously needed refinement in the movie was the use of music - rather than the music itself. We need to learn from the west what background score means and what is the impact on the screenplay when you interlace it too loud or you play it out of place. The rustic music could have been better interwoven with the on-screen episodes, which were often marred due to the strings and drums. Vishal deserves good words for his use of the Othello concept. I never tried to pull Shakespeare into the movie and perhaps the reason being less of a cynic as far as creating a theatrical blueprint is concerned. It's a directors point of view, an adaptation, which according to me is quite successful keeping Indian psyche, industry business, craftsmanship in perspective.
The Problem is that in Bollywood you have these camps like Yash Chopra who shoots duds like Neel & Nikki & Fannha and we have no option but to say Wah Wah.
After a long time comes the Movie of the decade i.e. OMKARA, it is a work of art, which generations of cinema lovers will appreciate. You may love it or hate it, but all will agree that it generate the magic of Cinema. Outstanding & Superb.
Hey Raja....this surely was among ur best reviews....from the heart just as u seemed to like the movie. And me too.....vishal bhardwaj is truly a genious----director, music director, dialogues and screenplay(with 3 others).
The movie is also awesome with great performances from the entire cast.
I was really waiting for ur review too...coz i knew u wud like it. Was surprised to see another person's review. But i knew u wud strike back.
Songs : The songs , Oh what to say poetry at its best in Hindi Cinema. Gulzaar has once again shown his range. My favourite is the Title song although its too rustic but if you hear the lyrics with the great music and the great voice (its hard to believe a punjaabi singer singing a desi bhaiyya tune with such ease) you will be mesmerized . Its a great mix of Veer and Raudra ras (If I am correct). rest of the songs are also great poetically and in lieu with the soul of the film. None seems to be imposed. In the song "namak" the voice of rekha bhardwaaj was awsome.Hopefully we can see more such masterpieces in near future from the duo (Vishal and Gulzaar)
Direction : One of the best direction I have ever seen.The director is great at his craft, all his movies will vouch for that. The Poet/and the musician has rightly blended with the directior to make it a masterpiece. His direction , choice of actors for the character is absolutely brilliant. I rate him among the best directors of our time (probably among the best of all times by the time he ends his career). Kudos to him. keep up the good work review to be con....
Hi Raja sen, This is the first time I am writing a review of the moview because I was blown away by it. I liked your review , I think you have dissected the movie quite efficiently. Great review man. Now My take on the movie. first I would like to tell that I havnt read Othello, but after watching the movie i can definitely say Vishal as a director must have done justice. This is the best movie I have seen since RDB (perhaps technically better). Language :: The language used is of western UP (Hariyanavi touch). The language was great ( great that a director hasn\\\'t bowed to the commercial presure, He has treated the movie as art and not as pure entertainment. The Director has shown how people really talk in that kind of background, you cant expect people of vilages to talk like karan jauhar movies. although I cudnt see this movie with my family (only bcoz of the language).Still I think that his decision to stick with the language was the right one.
human emotions? drama? social issues/struggles? if you want to show all this, there are so many examples out there. you do not have to show it thru some goon\'s violance!!!? first and formost:- violance sells, raunchy stuff sells, and vishal wanted to make something which he can sell. he has only made a violent movie, like so many other movies. by attaching it with a literary milestone he was successful in making fool of people.
for a moment, take out the shakespear part. and you are left with one of those so many violent movies set in hindi-bombiya backdrop. without shakespear\'s name Vishal might have lost his shirt on the project.
the fact is, very cleverly Vishal has used shakespear\'s name/work as a mask to sell his own run-of-the mill product.
-this is not a comment of the quality of the movie, just telling a fact that: Vishal is a clever businessman before you can call him an artiste.
A nice and honest write up indeed. Unlike the other critics who do nothing but estimate the boxoffice stamina of a movie, you write ur exact feelings about the movie.
This is not just one of the finest movies in recent times but is one of finest films ever in bollywood for me.
