Omkara is based on William Shakespeare`s 17th century classic, Othello. Regarded as one of finest plays about the human condition, it is being brought to life in an Indian milieu for the first time in a mainstream Hindi film, by noted writer director Vishal Bhardwaj. This is his successive effort after the highly celebrated Maqbool, which brought the brooding Macbeth to Indian screens in 2003. The Bollywood film Omkara is set against the surroundings of political warfare in the interiors of Uttar Pradesh.
The film was screened in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival along with a book. The book was written on the making of the film. It was selected to be screened at the Cairo International Film Festival and Pakistan`s prestigious Kara Film Festival. Omkara was shot over a period of 4 months across various locales, including Lonavala, Lucknow University, Allahabad, Bodh Gaya, Mahabaleshwar, Wai and Mumbai. Even though most of the shooting took place in Maharashtra, all the sets were erected with precise details to create an authentic Uttar Pradesh village.
Synopsis of Omkara
The story of Omkara starts in the backdrop of a village somewhere in Uttar Pradesh. Omkara Shukla i.e. Omi played by Ajay Devgan is known as bahubali which means a political enforcer. He is the gang leader that does political crimes for the politician Tiwari Bhaisaab played by Naseeruddin Shah. Ishwar Tyagi or Langda played by Saif Ali Khan and Keshav `Kesu Firangi` Upadhyay played by Vivek Oberoi are the trusted lieutenants of Omi.
The story goes forward with Langda attacking a marriage procession, he sends Rajju played by Deepak Dobriyal who is the bridegroom to stop Omkara from kidnapping her bride Dolly Mishra played by Kareena Kapoor. Rajju fails and the wedding does not take place. Dolly`s father a high profile lawyer, Ragunath Mishra played by Kamal Tiwari, becomes furious and meets Omi. He puts a rifle to Omi`s head and demands the return of Dolly. Bhaisaab smoothes the situation over by having Dolly tell her father that she consented to elope with Omi and was not violently abducted. Mishra feels humiliated and betrayed, leaving his daughter with Omi.
Omi`s gang eventually organizes a MMS sex scandal, smearing Bhaisaab`s political opponent`s reputation and helping him secure a Parliamentary position. Showing his appreciation, Bhaisaab promotes Omi from the role of a political enforcer to a candidate for the upcoming elections. When it time comes to promote one of his lieutenants, Omi chooses Kesu over Langda, which enrages him and so Langda decides to get revenge on both Omi and Kesu. As the gang celebrates their victory with Kesu`s dancer-girl mistress Billo played by Bipasha Basu, Langda takes advantage of Kesu`s low threshold for alcohol. Getting Kesu drunk, Langda instigates a drunken brawl between Kesu and Rajju. Omi is enraged and admonishes Kesu but starts to regret his decision.
Langda`s pride is slighted and raging with envy he hatches a plot to falsely implicate Omi`s beautiful wife Dolly, in a love affair with Kesu. Langda, using petty insinuations, poisons Omi`s mind against Kesu and Dolly, suggesting that they are having an affair. A piece of jewellery, a kamarbandh was gifted from Omi to Dolly is stolen by Langda`s wife Indu played by Konkona Sen Sharma and given to him. Langda plants this on Billo, who gives it to Kesu. This is used as more evidence for Dolly`s infidelity. Jealousy clouds Omi`s mind until everything is seen as more evidence against Kesu and Dolly.
To remove confusion Langda shoots Kesu with an approval from Omi. In the end, Omi confronts Dolly of her supposed unfaithfulness. In a fit of rage, he smothers her to death. Indu comes to Omi`s room and sees Dolly"s lifeless body lying on the ground and Omi sitting beside her. Indu sees the kamarbandh and tells Omi that she once stole it as she was unaware of the fact that whom it belonged. Omi and Indu understand the misunderstanding and also the root cause. Angered and upset, Indu slashes Langda`s throat while Omi commits suicide. The movie comes to its end while showing that Omi lying dead on the floor while Dolly`s dead body swinging above his. The movie is a real tragedy which is a question on jealousy and unfaithfulness.
Soundtrack of Omkara
According to the 2006 Box Office India reports, Omkara"s soundtrack album was the year"s 11th highest selling with about 11, 50,000 units sold. The music was composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and the soulful lyrics were penned by Gulzar. The soundtrack of Omkara was produced under the label of Eros Music with Hitesh Sonik and Clinton Serejo as the music producers. Listed below are the songs and artists of the movie:
| Title | Artiist |
| Omkara | Sukhwinder Singh |
| O Saathi Re | Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Bhardwaj |
| Beedi | Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Clinton Cerejo, Nachiketa Chakraborty |
| Jag Ja | Suresh Wadkar |
| Namak | Rekha Bhardwaj, Rakesh Pandit |
| Naina | Rahet Fateh Ali Khan |
| Laakad | Rekha Bhardwaj |