Mature, sensible cinema appears on the Bollywood scenario after quite a long time. Or should I simply say, cinema in its true sense has re-visited Hindi silver screen.
Had I been capable and well-financed my passion for William Shakespeare would have equalled Vishal Bharadwaj’s and that’s why I was so eager to watch Omkara. To begin with, I was impressed with the star cast. Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor seemed tailor-made for the roles. I was a bit sceptical about Saif as Iago because of his chocolate boy looks, but he came out as a perfect replica of Shakespeare’s Iago. With Omkara, Saif has entered the elite league of actors who adapt themselves to any role and look. Konkana is the surprise package. Her mastery of the dialect makes you believe she has lived her entire life in some North Indian village. Her sense of humour and perfect timing leaves you in no doubt of her acting capabilities. This lady has a long way to go, almost as long as the path etched by Shabana Azmi.
The plot has been discussed, argued upon and speculated about by throes of scholars world over. But Vishal has done a commendable job of Indianizing the concept. He could have taken the easy way out of making the setting in Mumbai’s underworld or filthy politics, but he wanted to deliver a power-packed film without the mundane masala. And he has succeeded superlatively with this one.
Ajay Devgan is under-play personified. His screen presence, down-to-earth attitude and the innate aptitude to get into the skin of the character deserves applaud. The long meaningful monologues of Othello are replaced by Ajay’s controlled emotions and internal struggles. What Othello said through words is re-told by Ajay with his immaculate acting. I know I am using a lot of adjectives but I think Ajay deserves them for this once-in-a-lifetime role.
Kareena Kapoor sheds her glamorous image to play Desdemona. Looking at her earlier films, I guess the most difficult task for her was to make Dolly as an innocent damsel a convincing character. She succeeds in this to a great extent and the credit for this definitely goes to the director.
Naseeruddin Shah is his charming best, Bipasha is her usual flamboyant self and Viveik too delivers a good performance.
All in all a very good film that will make you sit up and notice. Music is hum-able but certainly is not the centre of the film. Attention to details, well-etched characters and touching dialogues help this film to carve a niche for itself in Indian cinema’s archives.
Vishal Bharadwaj, his film, his actors, especially Ajay, Saif and Konkana will be amongst the forerunners in award nominations and winners.
And lastly, hats off to the Bard for writing such a play, with the all-encompassing emotions of jealousy and suspicion as the core and creating such universal characters. Be it the Globe Theatre, Hollywood, London’s Broadway or apna Bollywood … the Bard lives on.