Irish Film Institute -OMKARA

OMKARA

Director: VISHAL BHARADWAJ

INDIA • 2006 • SUBTITLED • COLOUR • ANAMORPHIC • DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO • 150 MIN


THIS FREE RE-WORKING OF OTHELLO, SET AMID GANGSTERS IN AN UTTAR PRADESH VILLAGE, ESTABLISHES WRITER-DIRECTOR VISHAL BHARADWAJ IN THE TOP RANKS OF SERIOUS MUMBAI-BASED WRITER-DIRECTORS.
Omkara (Ajay Devgan) is a gifted chieftain who heads a gang of outlaws, including the crafty Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) and the dynamic Kesu (Vivek Oberoi). Raging with envy when Omkara appoints Kesu as his chief lieutenant, Langda hatches a plot to falsely implicate Omkara’s beautiful wife Dolly (Kareena Kapoor) in a love affair with his favourite deputy. With the unwitting aid of his wife, Langda’s plan takes shape and grows into a horrific tragedy. Transporting Shakespeare’s schemers from Venice to an Indian milieu works seamlessly, with the half-cast Omkara as much a social outsider as the Moor Othello. In a role exactly tailored to his brooding screen persona, Devgan is just right as the laconic Omkara. But the standout performance is provided by Khan in the Iago role as the beefy, limping Langda Tyagi.

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