OMKARA (FILM)

'''Omkara''' (Hindi: ओमकारा, Urdu: امکارا) is a 2006 Hindi film adaptation of Shakespeare’s ''Othello'' directed by Vishal Bharadwaj. It starred Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles, supported by Vivek Oberoi, Naseeruddin Shah and Konkona Sen Sharma with a ‘’special appearance’’ from Bipasha Basu. The director Vishal Bharadwaj himself composed the entire music for the film, including the background score, with song lyrics by Gulzar.
The film was showcased in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival along with a book on the making of Omkara.^[1] It was also selected to be screened at the Cairo International Film Festival & Pakistan's prestigious Kara Film Festival.^[2]
It became part of a series of film interpretations of popular literary works by Bharadwaj, made after Maqbool based on Macbeth and Chatri Chor based on Ruskin Bond's The Blue Umbrella, though it should be noted that Omkara was released before Chatri Chor.

Contents

Plot

Cast and Characters

Character Outlines

Shooting Location

Production Notes

Response

Language

Music

Awards & Nominations

All India Filmgoer Awards

Other Awards

References

See also

External links

Plot

Omkara Shukla or Omi (Ajay Devgan) is a ''baahubali'', a sort of political enforcer. He is the leader of a gang which carries out political crimes for the local politician Tiwari Bhaisaab (Naseeruddin Shah). Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) and Keshav 'Kesu Firangi' Upadhyay (Vivek Oberoi) are his closest lieutenants.
The movie starts with Langda Tyagi hijacking a baraat and sending Rajju (Deepak Dobriyal), the bridegroom to try and stop Omkara from abducting the bride Dolly Mishra (Kareena Kapoor). Rajju fails and the wedding never takes place.
Dolly’s father Advocate Ragunath Mishra (Kamal Tiwari), mostly referred in the movie as “vakeel saab” (lawyer sir), is furious and confronts Omi. He puts a gun to Omi’s head and demands the return of his daughter. Bhaisaab intervenes and resolves the conflict by mentioning the current political conditions and prevents bloodshed. Still unconvinced, Vakeel saab grieves to Bhaisaab the next day. To bring a final solution to this issue, Dolly is made to appear in front of her father and clarify that she eloped with Omi rather than being abducted forcefully. She also tells the events of how she fell in love with Omkara. The father leaves feeling betrayed and ashamed.
After some crafty political arm-twisting, involving a MMS sex scandal, Omkara eliminates a powerful electoral rival. Bhaisaab is elected for Parliament and Omkara is promoted from “bahubali” to the candidate for the upcoming state elections. Omkara appoints Kesu over Langda as his successor once he enters politics himself. Langda, disappointed with Omkara's poor judgment and jealous of Kesu, his younger, less-experienced, superior; hatches a plot to revenge both his offenders. He first causes Kesu to enter into a violent brawl with Rajju, Dolly’s original suitor, (Deepak Dobriyal) by egging him to drink; he knows quite well Kesu doesn't handle alcohol. This infuriates Omi (Omkara) and lessens Kesu in his eyes. Playing the role of a concerned friend, Langda convinces Kesu to appeal to Dolly, Omi's lover and bride-to-be, to mollify Omi. Then, going to Omkara, he starts to disrepute Dolly by implicating Kesu's visits to ask Dolly for her help as meetings in an illicit love affair between the two. He finds a willing ally in Rajju.
A kamarbandh, a piece of traditional jewellery worn around the waist, carelessly dropped by Dolly and stolen by Langda’s wife Indu (Konkona Sen Sharma), which eventually reaches Billo Chamanbahar (Bipasha Basu) as a gift from Kesu, plays an important part in the plot, as evidence of Dolly’s infidelity.
By the time of the climax, the night of their wedding, Omi is convinced that Dolly and Kesu have been having an affair behind his back. In utter rage, he smothers his new wife to death. Langda shoots Kesu with a silent approval from Omi. Hearing gunshots and in shock Indu enters the room where Omi is sitting next to Dolly’s corpse in remorse. Indu notices the kamarbandh and mentions stealing it, they both understand the fatal misunderstanding and Langda as its root cause.
Out of spite, Indu slashes Langda's throat and Omi commits suicide. The movie closes with Omi lying dead of the floor and Dolly’s dead body swinging above his.

Cast and Characters

Actor	Character in the movie	Character in the play
Ajay Devgan	Omkara 'Omi' Shukla	Othello
Saif Ali Khan	Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi	Iago
Kareena Kapoor	Dolly Mishra	Desdemona
Konkona Sen Sharma	Indu	Emilia
Vivek Oberoi	Keshav 'Kesu Firangi' Upadhayay	Cassio
Bipasha Basu	Billo Chamanbahar	Bianca
Deepak Dobriyal	Rajan ’Rajju’ Tiwari	Rodrigo
Naseeruddin Shah	Bhaisaab	Duke of Venice

Character Outlines

★ 'Omkara "Omi" Shukla ' - Omkara is a hardened goon, equivalent to a ''capo'', a man with principles who sees life in extremes, either as good or evil. He is the illegitimate child of a higher caste Brahmin man and a lower caste woman.

★ 'Ishwar "Langda" Tyagi' – Langda, which means limp in Hindi is the catalyst in the story. He had been a loyal right hand man to Omi for years and expected to be the next ''‘’bahubali’’''. Kesu’s promotion gives a crushing blow to his ambitions and brings out the evil in him. His jealousy and hatred towards his kin is further encouraged by chiding remarks from Rajju.

★ 'Dolly Mishra' – Dolly is a playful, innocent, young girl, smitten by Omi. She is the one who expresses her love for him and lays the basis of their relationship. Throughout the narrative, other characters have been showed to doubt her innocence, including her father. Omi also finds her personality ambiguous, resulting in the tragic end.

★ 'Indu' - Indu leads a life as Langda Tyagi’s wife. She becomes an unwitting aid in her husband's plan.

★ 'Keshav "Kesu Firangi" Upadhyay ' - Kesu is Omi’s other deputy. His epithet comes from the fact that he is a foreigner . He is college educated and urban, known to be somewhat of a casanova. He is important to Omi for his political contacts in the students. After admitting to having ‘’known’’ a string of women he falls in love with Billo and proposes to her for marriage. He is shown to be impatient and easily frustrated with a low threshold for alcohol.

★ 'Billo Chamanbahar' – Billo is a singer/dancer who melts hearts with just her looks. She sees Kesu as a future companion, though keeps him hanging on. She makes an easy tool for Langda to manipulate.

★ 'Bhaisaab' - An influential Brahmin that everyone respects and obeys. He is an outwardly sophisticated man, with a ruthless interior. He is a politician to the bone and rules the region with an iron fist, picking up enemies as he progresses his career. He is a father figure for Omkara as well as the political head honcho.

★ 'Rajan ‘Rajju’ Tiwari' – Son of a respectable ''‘’thekedar’’'', he is head over heals in love with Dolly. He tries to win her affection, throughout the movie.

Shooting Location

''Omkara'' was shot over a period of 4 months across various locales, including Lonavala, Lucknow University, Allahabad, Bodh Gaya, Mahabaleshwar, Wai and Mumbai. Bulk of the shooting for the film took place in Wai Maharashtra. Even though most of the shooting took place in Maharashtra, sets were erected with precise details to create an authentic Uttar Pradesh village.

Production Notes

Other members of the production team included stunts co-ordinator Jai Singh, costume designer Dolly Ahluwalia, choreographers Bhushan Lakhandri and Ganesh Acharya along with chief assistant director Ajit Ahuja.
The title of the film was decide by a popular vote. Moviegoers had a choice between ''Omkara'', ''Issak'' and ''O Saathi Re'', all of which had already appeared on the soundtrack as song titles.

Response

''Omkara'' had a poor opening at the box office in India. The dark theme and strong language kept away family audiences. It was however a grand success abroad. The film quickly entered the UK's Top Ten and also did very well in Australia and the United States. Though the film was not a huge commercial success in India, it was critically acclaimed universally. Rediff.com writes: "Vishal Bhardwaj's film is a superlative-exhausting work of passion and tribute, skill and style...Spellbinding stuff". The film was praised for its taut script, brilliantly executed drama sequences and its lead performances. Kareena Kapoor's performance was considered to be the finest of her films. However, Saif Ali Khan drew the most praise for his villainous role as Langda Tyagi.

Language

All the dialogues in the film are delivered in a strong UP dialect of Hindi, including the use of swear words, generally absent from mainstream Hindi cinema. The movie received an A Certificate from the censor board of India. Critics and audiences were divided in their opinions about the foul language. Many believed that it was not required and would lead to distancing the movie from the family audience,^[3] while on the other hand some applauded it for authentically showing the rustic setting of the story. The language and A certificate narrowed the audience but in turn brought accolades for the creators of the movie for valuing creativity over commercial sucess

''A thin line (or thread) separates the fool from the fucker. On one end of the line lies the fool and on the other, the fucker. Upon snapping the line it's a million dollar question as to who's the fool and who's the fucker, my friend. Let's see the face of the pretty bridegroom now. Well, I'll be damned. Surely you are the fool, right? 'Coz a man becomes a fucker only after his wedding.''

The exact same dialogues were repeated in the movie at different points in the screenplay by the same or different characters, acting like catchphrases. Some examples have been listed below

Recurring lines from the film

'Quote in Hindi'	'Translation'	Note
	''A smile (or smiles) is getting more and more expensive in the world''	Indu to other characters
	''(Trying to) Lift a large load of wood''	An idiom repeated by several characters
	''If I am a liar, then I am a son of a dog . If I am honest then I am your mother's illegitimate lover''	Langda to Rajju, as a threat later repeated as a personal joke
	''The girl who can steal from (betray) her own father, how can she be trusted by anyone else''	A statement summarising the plot of the movie, by Dolly's father to Omkara. Repeated in Omkara's thoughts
	''Rip the hide off your body and dry the skeleton in sunlight''	A threat, from Omkara to Kesu. Repeated by Kesu when talking to Dolly

Other memorable quotes

'Quote in Hindi'	'Translation'
	''Bets should be placed on horses, you cruel idiot! Not on lions.''
	''... anyways, he also has a lot of experience in giving out invitations to Dolly's wedding''
	''While the mare is getting shoed, even the frog (rather the female version of ‘’frog’’) lifts her foot''

Music

The film has eight songs composed by Vishal Bharadwaj:

★ ''Omkara'' - Sukhwinder Singh

★ ''O Saathi Re'' - Shreya Ghoshal & Vishal Bharadwaj

★ ''Beedi'' - Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Nachiketa Chakraborty & Clinton Cerejo

★ ''Jag Ja'' - Suresh Wadkar

★ ''Namak'' - Rekha Bharadwaj & Rakesh Pandit

★ ''Naina'' - Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

★ ''Laakad'' - Rekha Bharadwaj

★ ''The Tragedy of Omkara'' - Instrumental

Awards & Nominations

The awards it won are highlighted in 'bold'.

=== Filmfare Awards === ★ Filmfare Best Director Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Filmfare Best Actress Award - Kareena Kapoor ★ 'Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award - Konkona Sen Sharma' ★ 'Filmfare Best Villain Award - Saif Ali Khan' ★ 'Filmfare Best Actress (Critics) Award - Kareena Kapoor' ★ 'Filmfare Special Jury Recognition - Deepak Dobriyal' ★ Filmfare Best Lyricist Award - Gulzar (Beedi) ★ 'Filmfare Best Female Playback Award - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi)' ★ 'Filmfare Best Choreography Award - Ganesh Acharya - (Beedi)' ★ 'Filmfare Best Art Direction - Sameer Chanda' ★ 'Filmfare Best Costumes - Dolly Ahluwalia' ★ 'Filmfare Best Sound - Subhash Sahu & K.J. Singh' ★ Filmfare Best Action Award - Jai Singh ★ Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award - Tassaduq Hussain ★ Filmfare Best Editing Award - Meghna Manchanda ★ Filmfare Best Screenplay Award - Vishal Bharadwaj & Robin Bhatt ★ Filmfare Best Background Score - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Filmfare Best Dialogue Award - Abhishek Chaubey & Vishal Bharadwaj=== Star Screen Awards === ★ Star Screen Award Best Film - Kumar Mangat ★ Star Screen Award Best Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Star Screen Award Best Actor - Ajay Devgan ★ 'Star Screen Award Best Actress - Kareena Kapoor' ★ Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress - Konkona Sen Sharma ★ 'Star Screen Award Best Villain - Saif Ali Khan' ★ 'Star Screen Award Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj' ★ 'Star Screen Award Best Lyricist - Gulzar (Beedi)' ★ Star Screen Award Best Male Playback - Sukhwinder Singh (Omkara) ★ Star Screen Award Best Female Playback - Rekha Bharadwaj (Namak) ★ Star Screen Award Best Female Playback - Shreya Goshal (O Saathi Re) ★ 'Star Screen Award Best Female Playback - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi)' ★ Star Screen Award Best Background Music - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Star Screen Award Best Choreography - Ganesh Acharya (Beedi) ★ Star Screen Award Best Dialogue - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Star Screen Award Best Sound - K.J. Singh ★ Star Screen Award Best Cinematographer - Tassaduq Hussain ★ Star Screen Award Best Art Direction - Samir Chanda=== Zee Cine Awards === ★ Zee Cine Award Best Film - Kumar Mangat ★ Zee Cine Award Best Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Zee Cine Award Best Actor- Female - Kareena Kapoor ★ 'Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Female - Konkona Sen Sharma' ★ 'Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Negative Role - Saif Ali Khan' ★ 'Zee Cine Award Best Track of the Year - Beedi' ★ Zee Cine Award Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Zee Cine Award Best Lyricist - Gulzar (Beedi) ★ Zee Cine Award Best Playback Singer- Female - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi) ★ Zee Cine Award Best Background Music - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ 'Zee Cine Award Best Choreographer - Ganesh Acharya (Beedi)' ★ Zee Cine Award Best Film Processing - Adlabs ★ 'Zee Cine Award Best Sound Recording - K.J. Singh' ★ Zee Cine Award Best Audiography - K.J. Singh ★ Zee Cine Award Best Publicity Design - HR Enterprises ★ Zee Cine Award Best Action - Jai Singh ★ Zee Cine Award Best Cinematography - Tassaduq Hussain=== International Indian Film Academy Awards === ★ IIFA Best Director Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ IIFA Best Actor Award - Ajay Devgan ★ IIFA Best Actress Award - Kareena Kapoor ★ IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award - Konkona Sen Sharma ★ 'IIFA Best Villain Award - Saif Ali Khan' ★ IIFA Best Music Director Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ IIFA Best Lyricist Award - Gulzar (Beedi) ★ 'IIFA Best Female Playback Award - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi)' ★ IIFA Best Choreography Award - Ganesh Acharya (Beedi) ★ IIFA Best Story Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ IIFA Best Screenplay Award - Vishal Bharadwaj, Robin Bhatt & Abhishek Chaubey ★ IIFA Best Dialogue Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ 'Best Cinematic Contribution for Literary Work - Vishal Bharadwaj'

=== Bollywood Movie Awards === ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Film - Kumar Mangat ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Actor - Ajay Devgan ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Actress - Kareena Kapoor ★ 'Bollywood Movie Award - Best Supporting Actor - Vivek Oberoi' ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Supporting Actress - Konkona Sen Sharma ★ 'Bollywood Movie Award - Best Villain - Saif Ali Khan' ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Lyricist - Gulzar (Beedi) ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Playback Singer Male - Sukhwinder Singh (Omkara) ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Playback Singer Female - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi) ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Playback Singer Female - Rekha Bharadwaj (Namak) ★ Bollywood Movie Award - Best Choreography - Ganesh Acharya (Beedi) ★ Bollywood Movie Award Best Dialogue - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Bollywood Movie Award Best Sound - K.J. Singh ★ Bollywood Movie Award Best Art Direction - Samir Chanda ★ Bollywood Movie Award Best Cinematography - Tassaduq Hussain=== Stardust Awards === ★ 'Hottest Movie of the Year - Big Screen Entertainers & Kumar Mangat' ★ Stardust Dream Director Award - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ Stardust Star of the Year Award - Male - Saif Ali Khan ★ Stardust Star of the Year Award - Female - Kareena Kapoor ★ Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award - Konkona Sen Sharma ★ 'Best Actor In A Negative Role - Saif Ali Khan' ★ New Menace - Deepak Dobriyal ★ 'New Musical Sensation (Female) - Rekha Bharadwaj (Namak)' ★ 'Editor's Choice Best Performance of the Year - Kareena Kapoor' ★ 'Editor's Choice Best Director of the Year - Vishal Bharadwaj'=== Global Indian Film Awards === ★ GIFA Best Film - Shemaroo & Kumar Mangat ★ GIFA Best Director - Vishal Bharadwaj ★ GIFA Best Actor - Ajay Devgan ★ GIFA Best Actress - Kareena Kapoor ★ 'GIFA Best Villain - Saif Ali Khan' ★ GIFA Best Music Director- Vishal Bharadwaj ★ GIFA Best Lyrics - Gulzar (Omkara) ★ GIFA Best Lyrics - Gulzar (O Saathi Re) ★ GIFA Best Playback Singer Male - Sukhwinder Singh (Omkara) ★ GIFA Best Playback Singer Female - Sunidhi Chauhan (Beedi) ★ GIFA Best Playback Singer Female - Shreya Goshal (O Saathi Re) ★ GIFA Best Choreography - Ganesh Acharya (Beedi) ★ 'GIFA Best Cinematography - Tassaduq Hussain' All India Filmgoer Awards ★ AIFA Best Director Award - Vishal Bharadwarj ★ AIFA Best Actor Award - Ajay Devgan ★ AIFA Best Actress Award - Kareena Kapoor ★ AIFA Best Supporting Actress Award - Konkona Sen Sharma ★ 'AIFA Best Villain Award - Saif Ali Khan' ★ 'AIFA Best Actress (Critics) Award - Kareena Kapoor' ★ 'AIFA Queen of Hearts Award - Bipasha Basu' ★ 'AIFA Best Female Playback Award - Sunidhi Chawhan (Beedi)' ★ AIFA Best Lyricist Award - Gulzar (Beedi) ★ AIFA Best Soundtrack Award - Beedi ★ 'AIFA Best Sound Recording Award - Salman Afidi'

Other Awards

★ 'Sports World Awards: Best Actor In A Villanous Role - Saif Ali Khan'

★ 'Cairo International Film Festival: Best Artistic Contribution in Cinema of a Director - Vishal Bharadwaj'

★ 'Kara Film Festival: Best Actor - Saif Ali Khan'

★ 'Kara Film Festival: Best Music Director - Vishal Bharadwaj'

★ 'Kara Film Festival: Best Adapted Screenplay - Vishal Bharadwaj & Robin Bhatt'

References

1. Omkara film preview
2. 'Omkara' shines in Cairo and Karachi
3. Families stay away from Omkara

See also

★ William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Othello''

External links

★ Official Site

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