Omkara is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello and stays true to the original play till the end where it comes up with its own ending. The first thing that hits you like a brick is the quality of the language used which is very very crude. One of the main reasons I can’t recommend this movie to family is because of the language which is the basest both in terms of verbiage and meaning that I have frankly ever heard inmy life.
On the positive side, it’s a family drama with very high but underplayed intrigue which makes it all the more chilling when the end comes. When I got out of the theater, it was like getting out of a pressure cooker, it was that intense.
The actor who comes out shining in this movie is Saif Khan. He plays his role very subtely and makes a very slimy villain.. The others are also topnotch and no one is lacking. Kareena looks vulnerable which makes her look sexier. Bips is hotness personified, but doesn’t have much else to do. I would give everyone’s acting five stars.
The pace: I felt the story meanders a lot and is very slow paced with not much happening except people mouthing new and unimagined combinations ofexpletives. I was checked out of the movie around Intermission, but the movie redeems itself somewhat when the story picks up near the end and comes to a chilling climax. I did not know the story of Othello, so the end was unexpected although there were signs allover the place that that was going to be the end. After I came home, I found that the end wasn’t faithful to Othello’s, but it was still good. I felt the various plot elements were not well-presented and at least in the beginning, everything seemed quite confusing. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, why the bahubali ceremony was held, why Kesu was chosen over Langda (not explained at all), so I give minus points to the director for not presenting what basic plot there was clearly.
I felt that a lot more could have been packed into the story, lots of twists and turns to make it even more interesting instead of being the one-track story that it was (with just a couple of intrigues to speakof). But still it held my attention in the second half, and I did come out having had a good time.
The music is decent, with ’O Saathi Re’ sung by Shreya Ghoshal in Raaga Bhairavi standing out for me, the visuals (very sexy), the lyrics, the music were all good for this song. Bipasha’s first item song was also catchy but I’ve already forgotten the name.
This is an okay movie to watch once on TV or DVD provided you are prepared for the crude language, and are in the mood for good cinematography and topnotch acting bringing a not-too-interesting story to life. I am not recommending it to my friends or family because I didn’t find it that exceptional and I want to spare them the assault on their ears. Your time would be better spent reading or watching Shakespeare’s original. If you don’t have anything else to do, go ahead and watch this.