Let me start with a confession- I have very vague memories of the play ’Othello’, and for obvious reasons. I think it is one of Shakespeare’s weakest plays, where the protagonist is ’weak’, without a mind of his own. Therefore, when I went to see Othello, I consciously chose to not rate it as an adaptation, but as a film which would either appeal to my sensibilities or fail on that count... and Vishal Bharadwaj comes out with flying colours for the second time in a row!!!(that is, if we are not counting Makdee)
This film includes superb acting by most of its cast- special mention to Saif Ali Khan , who manages to go way beyond his star status and get under the skin of Iago- yellow teeth, rustic body language, the sinister, jelaous evil spirit and Konkona , as Indu- most of my mind space in terms of recollections of the movie are taken up by her, htough she has far less screen time than the others. Bravo!!! Her histrionics in the film are an excellent blend of capturing a youthful spirit, with a lot of worldly wisdom and insights.....Full marks to Deepak Dobriyal for an outstanding debut, as Dolly’s jilted husband and Iago’s friend- also the one, to plant the seeds of jealousy in Langda’s mind.
Naseer , that Al pacino among our actors is wasted in the role of Bhai Saahab, though no complaints on the frames in which he does appear. Viveik Oberoi is well cast- as the young, energetic eager to please Kesu, with a phirang renedering on ’bottom’...
Kareena does justice to her role, and delivers the coy yet daring sexuality of the character rather well.
Vishal’s biggest achievement is the building up of the tension which climaxes in the final reels- throughout the film , you are tensed with this undercurrent , expecting the worst to happen....and the worst does happen finally, as Langda, Dolly and OmKara die...
I would have liked to see more of Omi’s remorse.... as he discovers that he’s killed Dolly, who was innocent... but too many things clutter the last scenes, and this angle is not developed further. However, whether this is a matter of my sense of catharsis is something that I need to introspect on.
An actor of Ajay Devgan’s calibre could have delivered much more, but the weaknesses are really not his, for they are intrinsic to the Bard’s play.
The only shortcoming of the film is the presence of too many stars - which sometimes clutters the screen- especially unwarranted s the presence of a very urban chic looking Bipasha as the sexy, Billo Chamanbahaar.
I think another unique achievement has been to keep the narrative simple, yet the concept multi layered- hinting at caste , sexual politics, the very base and basic human emotion of jealousy, self doubt, and human interpersonal relationships.
above all, I love the film for it leaves one asking for more...m ore answers to questions such as
Why did Dolly’s father say such a heinous thing about his own daughter?
Why did Omkara rely on Iago so much despite being powerful himself?
Why was Kesu away on so many occasions when his presence would have solved the mystery?
Why did Omi kill himself but let Langda go?
The film is a must watch for all lovers of cinema.
I heard some rather shallow audience comments that upset me- for eg. why do they use so much foul language? Is it a true depiction of UP?
My question is, why not? Can we not have non- sugar coated truths?
Elementary....my dear Watson(s)....
Elementary