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Masand's Verdict: Omkara fascinates
Published on Fri, Jul 28, 2006 at 22:35, Updated at Fri, Aug 11, 2006 in 
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This time the drama is about Saas bahu aur sensex
Veteran actor Farooque Sheikh's return to the big screen has got everybody interested.
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgan, Konkona Sensharma, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Naseeruddin Shah
Direction: Vishal Bharadwaj
The film we've been eagerly waiting for is finally here. Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, the director's adaptation of Othello set in the Indian heartland is at our screens this weekend.
It is the effortless manner in which Vishal places Shakespeare's tale of friendship, jealosy and betrayal in this rural setting that is truly imaginative.
Ajay Devgan plays Omi Shukla, the leader of a group of outlaws in Uttar Pradesh who chooses faithful accomplice Kesu (played by Vivek Oberoi) over crafty Langda Tyagi (Saif Ali Khan) as his chief lieutenant.
Ajay Devgan plays the leader of a group of outlaws in Omkara
This sparks off a vengeful streak in Langda Tyagi who hatches a plot to falsely implicate Kesu in an affair with Omi's girlfriend Dolly, played by Kareena Kapoor.
As is true of any good film, Omkara too works largely because the story is immensely engaging.
Since you're familiar with the source material, you pretty much know how the film's going to end, but it is to the credit of writer-director Vishal Bhardwaj that he weaves an interesting yarn and creates relateable characters for you to make the journey with.
Turning Othello's, Iago, Desdemona and Casio into Omi, Tyagi, Dolly and Kesu, he stays faithful to the Bard's basic premise and interprets the main characters accordingly.
In fact, it's fascinating how Vishal casts against type but draws magnificent performances from most protagonists.
The film's rural backdrop naturally demands that dialogue be spoken in the local dialect, and although the actors speak their lines comfortably and use swear words freely, the dialect is often difficult to follow.
In fact, I think that's the only thing that jars in Omkara, apart from its leisurely pace.
At some two hours and thirty minutes, the movie is far too long. But where Vishal scores big points, is in the imagination department. Who else would have thought of filming a gruesome action scene to a song?
In Omkara, the first real blood-splattered action piece is filmed as the title song, as is another early scene where Dolly testifies her love for Omi in the presence of her father.
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