Omkara ..... Why is Vishal Bharadwaj so gory in his thought
Omkara had the potential to be one of the truly defining pictures of the year. However it just fizzed like a bottle of Cola and finally ended up spilling over and spoling the dress(read mood).
Omkara is a great adaption of Othello into Indian scenario and shows how an Omkara is decieved everyday by Langda.
and i think thats where the appreciation should stop.
Film is about an half-brahmin, Omkara, who happens to be a local big-time goon, has an option to nominate one of his trusted lieutinants as candidate for the Elections.He chooses Kesu Firangi played by Viveik Oberoi over his long time associate - Langda Tyagi played by Saif Ali Khan.
Here's where Othello's script starts playing out and Langda starts planting doubts on loyalty of Dolly ( lover of Omkara) towards Omkara. Omkara played by Ajay Devgun remains stoic, thoughtful throughout the movie and in the end is conned into believing that Dolly is in a relationship with Kesu and kills her in a fit of rage. However on realising that Langda had tricked him into believing the non-existant, Omkara kills himself.
First, the morose, sad and downbeat feeling with which i left the movie hall made me wonder why u even repeated the dialogue - "Khushi mehengi ho gayi hai duniya mein" - coz u really chose to give the movie a gory end, by killing off Langda, Omkara and Dolly. What is your fascination with such torturous portrayal of deaths - first with Maqbool, secondly with Omkara. I would believe that the Devil's mind definately attracts you - Shabana Azmi in Makdee, Tabu in Maqbool and now Langda in Omkara.
Maybe i am too naive to understand Shakespearean work, but i would like to one-day see the thought process behind all the fascination with the evil thoughts and its stimuli.... Just to look at things from that perspective.
About the performances - Saif plays Langda to the hilt. His dialogue delivery, rawness stands out on the screen. He certainly has learnt to get under the skin of the character. Konkana Sen Sharma is an able folly to Langda and in the minimal scenes she has, she steals the applause for the females.Kareena and Bipasha are at best playing out roles of Barbie and looking sweet 'n chic 'n hot, but nothing really standout in their performances. Ajay has tons of screen time to whip his character up and Kesu plays the part of an abiding follower well.
The movie ends up leaving you a bit down-beat. It might be the reality of the story - Othello, but Vishal could have displayed a bit of flexibility in his adaption. Maybe that would have the crowds flocking to the theatres.
Omkara is a great adaption of Othello into Indian scenario and shows how an Omkara is decieved everyday by Langda.
and i think thats where the appreciation should stop.
Film is about an half-brahmin, Omkara, who happens to be a local big-time goon, has an option to nominate one of his trusted lieutinants as candidate for the Elections.He chooses Kesu Firangi played by Viveik Oberoi over his long time associate - Langda Tyagi played by Saif Ali Khan.
Here's where Othello's script starts playing out and Langda starts planting doubts on loyalty of Dolly ( lover of Omkara) towards Omkara. Omkara played by Ajay Devgun remains stoic, thoughtful throughout the movie and in the end is conned into believing that Dolly is in a relationship with Kesu and kills her in a fit of rage. However on realising that Langda had tricked him into believing the non-existant, Omkara kills himself.
First, the morose, sad and downbeat feeling with which i left the movie hall made me wonder why u even repeated the dialogue - "Khushi mehengi ho gayi hai duniya mein" - coz u really chose to give the movie a gory end, by killing off Langda, Omkara and Dolly. What is your fascination with such torturous portrayal of deaths - first with Maqbool, secondly with Omkara. I would believe that the Devil's mind definately attracts you - Shabana Azmi in Makdee, Tabu in Maqbool and now Langda in Omkara.
Maybe i am too naive to understand Shakespearean work, but i would like to one-day see the thought process behind all the fascination with the evil thoughts and its stimuli.... Just to look at things from that perspective.
About the performances - Saif plays Langda to the hilt. His dialogue delivery, rawness stands out on the screen. He certainly has learnt to get under the skin of the character. Konkana Sen Sharma is an able folly to Langda and in the minimal scenes she has, she steals the applause for the females.Kareena and Bipasha are at best playing out roles of Barbie and looking sweet 'n chic 'n hot, but nothing really standout in their performances. Ajay has tons of screen time to whip his character up and Kesu plays the part of an abiding follower well.
The movie ends up leaving you a bit down-beat. It might be the reality of the story - Othello, but Vishal could have displayed a bit of flexibility in his adaption. Maybe that would have the crowds flocking to the theatres.
posted by Manas at 5:08 AM
5 Comments:
Maybe Vishal is attracted to "gory" stories because "the devil has all the best lines"? As Tolstoy said, happiness is rather same-y; turmoil is much more interesting. I also found the movie a downer but that's okay. Not all movies can be about escapism and entertainment....
I dont have anything persay against the tragic nature of ending, but i would like to understand what is it about blood and gory endings that makes Vishal tick. I mean does he want to convey a point there...coz if he does, i am missing out on that.
I think everyone would agree that there are tons of ways to convey a tragic end on the screen, but this particular portrayal - seems to be a signature style that the directors of today are developing - is something beyond my imagination.
the last line of my post says it all.
neither is he bound to faithfully reproduce 'othello', nor is he required to tweak it to anything different at all.
gore definitely adds to the emotion. that the killer is able to be so ruthless, portrays the extent of his/her angst
Is that (a) comment on my post or (b) Comment on my comment on ur post. Think its the later :-) ( Luv the confusion that u can cause with excess use of words. )
Anyways i never expected Vishal to reproduce Othello faithfully, just wondered what is it that gets him stimulated towards the Devilish side of things.
And the reason for curiosity is that i tend to believe gory depiction, Evilish perspective portrayal to be his signature.
He has given us enough hints.
not really sure the movie would had its character if vishal had chosed to make the climax any difference, othello is all abt the human jealousy and to the amount it plays horribly in destroying everyones life. though i agree that its gory and sad but then thats what othello is. the reason that omkara and for that matter maqbool (havent seen makdee) stand as brilliant adaptations is the very fact that vishal is able to potray that feelings in the indian context and if he changes that it loses all the Shakespeare character doesn't it?
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