Its always a critical issue when a film takes itself too seriously, and this doesn't reflect effectively to the audience. Several examples of such films exist in Bollywood (almost every Sawan Kumar Tak movie ever made, and of course, Jaani Dushman).
The efficacy lies in the creation of the aura. The entire look/feel of the movie, right from the music (score and background score), cinematography, color palette and of course, the performances, should be coherent with this aura, which essentially forms the spirit of the film.
Vishal Bharadwaj has captured this, almost effortlessly, in Omkara. What most impressed me about Omkara was the flawless usage of the songs to replace and supplement the on-screen thought process. The slo-mo single-take picturization of O Saathi Re, to signify Dolly's inherent desire to capture and preserve the moments that seemed so pristine. The crispness of Laakd to signify the fading of the fabric of Omkara's relationship with his wife. Both Bipasha's numbers (Beedi and Namak) reminded one of RGV's item numbers (like Sapno mein milti hai from Satya), where the excitement and exuberance is so heightened, it literally reeks of impending doom. Like one expects the cymbals to clash, and the curtain to drop, any minute.
But then, that's the essence of Omkara. Right from the first frame, the movie moves with a suspenceful pace, and constantly leaves the viewer in fear of upcoming disaster. A classic adaptation by Vishal Bharadwaj, with brilliant characterization, emphasized further by world-class performances by every actor. And to add to that - a shockingly stark, humiliating ending which leaves one stunned.When adapting Shakespeare, as I said in my earlier post, "To Die Upon a Kiss", the most complex factor is that the Bard over-magnified issues and emotions to help one understand them better. In the 21st century view of life, directors face the risk that these issues will seem too trivial to justify the tragic crescendo endings of his plays, and this puts all the more pressure on the adaptor to comfortably convey elements between these two diverse centuries.
Most people today would view Othello as an obsessively jealous freak, who almost willingly searched and destroyed his own and Desdemona's life.
To people who mock the Bard and think that the obsessive strangeness doesn't exist in today's world, I say that we live on a planet where stalkers capture pre-pubescent girls, abuse them and keep them under lock and key for years, ruining their childhood and adolescence, in entirety - we are not in a position to point fingers of questionability at moralities back in a century where we weren't even alive.
All in all - the End justifies the means, which justifies the challenge that Vishal Bharadwaj undertook when he conceptualized Omkara. Well, worth a watch and as for the soundtrack - many a listen.
In other news, Megan Mullaly so deserved that Emmy! And Conan's doing so much of a better job here, vis-a-vis Jon at the Oscars. Don't get me wrong - I'm much more of a Jon Stewart fan, but Conan's humor seems to have more of a Tellywood affinity, than Jon's with the Academy Awards Audience.
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