DVD Collector wrote:
Here is a filmmaker(much like Mani Ratnam) who understands the tools of the medium, well apprehensive with the concept of time and space and uses everything he has to his advantage.
To cut a long story short,(of late, I have bastardized the term masterpiece, so I'll avoid using it) Omkara IS a great film, one that I truly believe will grow stronger with time to come.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Throughout the film, I was saying to myself "Finally - a director who knows how to direct!". He builds sequences, uses strong imagery, employs foreshadowing to his benefit, appropriately matches scenes to settings, etc. As you say, he knows what he's doing, and this is half the battle won in my mind. This film was an absolute treat in comparison to the slap-dash "cinema" we are treated to on a constant basis. It's truly a phenomenal film - not as good as
Maqbool me thinks - but damn good nonetheless.
It's a fantastic looking film, well-scripted and brilliantly relocated from the mouth of Shakespeare to the northern province of India. Cast is astounding from top to bottom, with Saif Ali Khan expectedly rising to the top (I didn't see caricature at all - there are only a few moments where the spell is broken and the actor emerges. Most of the time, I saw only Langda). Only weak link is Vivek Oberoi, which isn't really his fault considering he has done this kind of role before.
I must admit that a second viewing is in order since I saw the film today in Dubai sans English subtitles (which are provided on prints in Toronto, where I am from). I think myself able to do without them for the majority of Bollywood films, but the dialect here caught me off-guard.
Some minor quibbles (SPOILERS obviously):
- I didn't like how Bharadwaj extended the credits almost twenty minutes into the film. It's fine to be original, but at times it felt like overkill and self-promoting. Calling attention to yourself as the director in the middle of a transition has a distancing effect on the audience.
- Khan was excellent as Iago, but why did it seem like he was bordering on
Richard III with that limp and the deglamoured appearance? This was distracting for me.
- The background score was exaggerated (not the songs, mind you); sometimes silence during tense moments is more powerful.
- Some more time developing Langda's motives would have serviced the film tremendously - when exactly does he put his plan into motion? After his ambivalence in taking those two photos at the birthday party, there is no scene showing him making a determined decision to bring Omkara down.
As for the argument "This is a tragedy and should do x and y", I don't agree. I think some of the best Shakespeare re-imaginings and re-workings are ones that let us approach the material from new directions rather than the standard scholarly/traditional reactions. I liked that
Omkara ended on a blunt, strangely muted note - I hate it when art tries to squeeze out tears from my eyes. I wish to be moved on my own terms, not on the artists'.