Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Othello in small-town India, 28 Feb 2007
This is a brilliant retelling of Othello, set in small-town India. Omkara (the Othello character) is the main enforcer for a local politician, Bhaisahab. The trouble starts when Omkara needs to appoint his successor and chooses Kesu (Cassio) to succeed him, rather than Langda (Iago). Langda is furious and takes his revenge on both men by poisoning Omkara's mind with suggestions of an affair between Kesu and Omkara's lover, Dolly. The acting is excellent--Saif Ali Khan is excellent as Langda, and so is Ajay Devgan as Omkara. Vivek Oberoi as Kesu, Konkona Sen Sharma as Indu (Langda's wife) and Naseeruddin Shah as Bhaisahab are also very good. And Kareena Kapoor is very convincing as the naive, trusting Dolly. The director, Vishal Bharadwaj, also wrote the screenplay and the music.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One word - Fantastic!, 24 Mar 2007
It's refreshing to see that some people in the Indian film industry have realised that Shakespeare did write plays, other than Romeo and Juliet.
Omkara is a little dark in nature, therefore, it might not appeal to the average Bollywood film fan. But its worth watching for the outstanding performances delivered by Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Ajay Devgan.
Omkara is a beautiful story of love and tragedy: for anyone who has read Shakespeare's Othello, this version will be simply delightful.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a divine feast for psyche and senses with shakespeare , 5 Jan 2009
the envy that evokes an endless wrath is embellished in omkara with a passion that is seethingly powerful and evocatively sensuous .
A FABULOUS FEAST FOR PSYCHE AND the SENSES -
WE ALL KNOW OTHELLO IS A UNIVERSAL THEME , SET IN VENICE IT CAN BE HAPPENNING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD , BUT VISHAL TAKES IT TO THE COWBELT in india and sets it in a rural milieu with a genuine village dialect AND A VERY INDIGENOUS INDIAN native SETTING ,
IM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THE PLOT AS EVERYONES AWARE OF IT ,
the eternal story of a man woman relationship destroyed by scepticism and fake suspicions fuelled by paranoia,envy and petty jealousy -mendacity and rumors by villainous foes and friends alike who have an axe to grind whether for power lust ,greed or personal gain as this has been made for the screen numerous times ,but here ITS THE EXECUTION THAT STUNS ME , THE AUTHENTIC SETTINGS of the ploitical meeting on a moving lorry on a makeshift dirt road , the chanting monks on a hilltop temple presiding over an ancient hindu tradition ,the political assassinations in a public train compartment , the true to life dialogues which are profane to some but heavenly to my acoustics .
THE LIFE LIKE CHARACTERS mouthing the MESMERIZING DIALECT IS LIKE WEAVING A MAGIC SPELL on your mind in a delicate mesh and at the same time its rivetting to behold the visual splendour ,
YOUR MIND IS DRENCHED WITH COLORS AND odours AS IF YOU ARE LIVING and virtually experiencing THE RUSTIC SURROUNDINGS ,
though amazingly IT IS SHOT LIKE A BAROQUE EUROPEAN PAINTING,[influences of bertolucci and sergio leone abound but the director has a sixth sense which makes this totally original.
THE IMAGES OF A DUSKY HALF LIT INDIAN VILLAGE in the twilight hour , COW DUNG THATCHED WALLS , A KITE CAUGHT ON AN ELECTRIC WIRE IN A STREET , ITS A MASTER TELLER AT WORK AND HE HAS PERFORMERS PAR EXCELLENCE , KAREENA IS BY FAR is THE BEST EVER DESDEMONA ON SCREEN , AJAY DEVGAN MAKES FISHBURNES OTHELLO from the 1999 version LOOK LIKE An amateurish ACT , SAIF AS TYAGI IS IN FULL FORM and in an author backed role steals the show , ITS THE PERIPHERAL ROLES WHICH SURPRISE YOU MOST ,BIPASHA AND KONKONA GIVE SUPERB PERFORMANCES , EVEN THE TWO ITEM NUMBERS ARE UNIQUE ,beeri and namak are written beautifully by gulzar and executed with utmost panache by bipasha , TO ME THEY WERE LIKE WATCHING AN OPERA , THE DIALOGUES ARE MIND BLOWING AND TOTALLY REALISTIC , ITS THE COMBINATION OF THE SCRIPT AND SUPERB EXECUTION WHICH MAKES THE DIRECTOR TELL A TYPICAL LOVE STORY IN ONE SONG ,I REFER TO NAINA THUG LE GE , usually IT TAKES 3 HOURS FOR A HINDI MOVIE TO COVER THAT STORY ALONE .
FROM THE BEGINNING TO END THIS IS A FIVE COuRSE GOURMET MEAL PAR EXCELLENCE , TO BE NOT COSUMED AT LOSS only TO YOURSELF , A MIOVIE WHICH IS TO BE CHERISHED AND COMES IN DECADES , KUDOS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM AND ITS INDIAS LOSS IF THEY DIDNT SEND IT FOR OSCARS ,
IT WAS THE BEST MOVIE THE COMMERCIAL CINEMAS COUGHED UP IN the LAST FIVE YEARS SINCE DILSE ., it has SMALL TOCHES LIKE MOBiLE PHONES BEING SUBSTITUTED FOR SHAKESPEARES EAVESDROPPING and a waistband as a family heirloom is used for the notorious hand kerchief ,these ARE STROKES OF GENIUS,but you expect it from the guy who made maqbool but here he has even surpassed thar classic ,so whats next from shakespeares vast library ,i hope its a comedy next like twelfth night .
I HOPE VISHAL AND GULZAR WILL SUSTAIN THEIR STANDARDS IN FUTURE TOO, HINDI CINEMA IS FULL OF PLEASANT SURPRISES AND OMKARA IS ONE OF THE BEST IN A LONG TIME
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