Living up to the hype!. Review on Omkara

What a turn around for cinema! Technique and script was never been given as much relevance ever in the history of Indian cinema (bimal roy and guru dutt,ray and ghatak were mere tokens of good cinema)...

What an ideal time to experiment and innovate, break away from conventions and create ur own audience which is not tagged as 'niche'.

Omkara in many ways is path-breaking but on face-value it provides paisa-vasool entertainment. Two item numbers, sufficient black humour and a plot dealing with love and betrayal. Wot more can u ask for?? Interestingly,symbolism is heavily used in the film yet even if you fail to venture deeper, u will enjoy it nevertheless! This is a real achievement!

What it stands out is treatment to the script and characterisation. It has a well-worked out storyline leaves little room for errors...

The casting is flawed coz mainly the characters are playing themselves except perhaps Saif.

However the script skillfully covers that.

Omkara( Ajay Devgan) is the mafia don-cum-political spearhead with a heart of gold in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Langda Tyagi(saif) is his right-hand man who has been trudging along Omi's path to get political power. However it comes to him as a rude shock when a relative newcomer or 'videshi' Kesu( Vivek) is made the bahubali, party head. It triggers off a series of events, all intentional and well-executed by the scheming Langda which destroys everything but him.

The women have a huge part to play in taking the story forward.

Dolly (Kareena) is a beautiful princess who leaves her father's home to settle down with Omkara. She is madly in love with him and is not coy about it. The love sequences between the two are superbly and aesthetically shot. They have made Wai look romantic... kudos!( to the cinematographer mainly)

Langda's wife is the uncouth but incredibly likeable Indu( Konkona). She exudes this presence which goes beyond good looks, she's infectious.

Bipasha as keshu's love interest has precious little to do and is in her usual form (read:sensuous)

The political events are merely a backdrop to this classic tragedy.

Othello is one of Shakespeare's greatest achivements essentially becoz it has the most powerful negative characters Iago. In the same vein,Saif's Langda is the most destructive characters ever created for the Indian palate !

Vishal Bharadwaj does a brilliant job with the dialogues and direction. Immaculate and sharp.

Music evokes the pathos and beauty with amazing results. However strangely enough, they are not very hummable except the 'Beedi' number.

That the camera loves Kareena kapoor is undeniable. Golden complexion et al! This movie is actually coming of age for Kareena. Restrained emotions have never been her forte but she has proved her mettle here.

Ajay devgan zooms through this role.

A bankable star when it comes to playin the intense,brooding yet large-hearted characters. As Omkara, he's smooth.

Saif in one word is ' extraordinary'. Take him out of the film and it falls apart! One of the most meatiest parts ever offered and boy! how he licks on to it....

Vivek Oberoi needs a good director who doesn't let him fly off the handle. With Kesu he does a decent job but again has precious little to do.

For me, the highlight of the movie is the last scene. It's poignant and delivers a perfect desired impact! It gets u thinking....

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