Omkara, the Indianized version of Othello, was a predecessor of Haider and was the second of the Shakespearean trilogy that Bhardwaj took the charge of adapting to fit the Indian landscape. When it comes to Shakespeare, the question becomes more about how to translate it into a work that is understood by the masses and Bhardwaj is a master of this very thing. He took the posh Venice and Cyprus and rearranged it into a city dominated by gangsters and politicians, a theme very common is Indian cinema. Where Shakespeare alienated Othello through the color of his skin, Bhardwaj did it through a very persisting issue of caste that plagues the Indian society to this very day. Where Haider and Maqbool kept the basic skeleton of Shakespeare’s play, Omkara is a verbatim translation of it. The elopement of Othello and Desdemona is changed to abduction, quite fitting for the setting it is based in and similar to the play, Langda’s skillful manipulation of Omkara’s thoughts lead to the tragedy which is as bloody and wretched as the original. Some of the speeches have also been retained like the father’s warning to Othello/Omkara about how if she can deceiver her father, she can deceive him too.
The physical appearance of the character mattered a lot and that is why the cast selection and the portrayal by each of them were impeccable. The Brahmins are often considered to be of fair skin, which was what Dolly represented in sharp contrast to Omkara, done marvellously by Ajay Devgan, with his skin of the darkest of colour, a signifier of him being a half caste, or more accurately, of belonging from a lower caste. But while it is a literal translation, it has been dramatized by the Bollywood standards. The handkerchief transforms into a glamorous waistband, with its discovery becoming the very reason that proved Dolly’s innocence. Omkara cannot be mentioned without its peculiar dialect and the way the language is utilized in the film. It is crude, abusive and mundane as opposed to the symbolic and poetic one used in Othello but it is this very thing that makes Omkara, Indian in its truest essence.
The women play a huge role in Omkara and while on the surface it may look like a typical depiction of women as beings who are only there as eye candy or damsel in distress, Bhardwaj used these tropes while also ensuring to make his characters richer and deep. The character of Emilia has been transformed into a woman of substance, Indu, who is empowered and plays a crucial role in the progression of the film. Indu’s relationships with the main characters give her the freedom to affect their lives individually and as a whole. Indu in her role as a central member of the family is able to undermine the conventional idea of manliness and acts as an individual who has the strength to protect the people she care about. While she is Omkara’s sister, her loyalty to Dolly, a stranger whose sole connection to her is her brother, is astounding and that was an unmatched joy where women are not pitied against each other and rather they act as each other’s pillars and this is strengthened when she avenges Dolly’s death by murdering her own husband, her mijazi khuda, and this in itself is a power move that no one predicted but everyone treasured.
Courtesans are a common part of the Indian cinema with their being countless films who have gained international acclaim like Pakeezah or Umrao Jaan. But Bhardwaj’s Billo wasn’t an average courtesan who was dissatisfied with her profession like Nargis in Pakeezah, rather she is a working woman, who is shown to be content with her work and so with the progression of time we witness how the courtesan who cried about her loss of innocence at the hands of the very society who have designated it as her fate change to a woman, Billo, with agency, grand and ethereal in her contentment with herself and her life. But where Billo was a woman who was hesitant to the idea of marriage, the protagonist Dolly’s character arc is based on the very opposite of it, her desire to marry Omkara. Dolly seems like a character whose world revolves around the identity of Omkara, but her fierce love for the man pulled her out from the shallow depth of a one dimensional character. She is a woman who was so steadfast in her love that she left everything behind and that unwavering faith on not Om but her love for him was nothing short of magical.
But while Dolly showed her strength through her love, Omkara seemed a man weak at his core. His physical appearance screamed about his power and he was a figure who was revered but feared too but in essence, his vitality was weak. He was a man who was convinced by the words of a man he barely knew, Dolly’s father, over his trust for his lover. The dialogue uttered by Raghunat Mishra roughly translates to “May you never forget the two-faced monster a woman is. She who can dupe her own father will never be anyone’s to claim.” and Dolly is referred to as the two faced monster and the way the father came between Omkara and Dolly while uttering this dialogues, this same dialogue would go on to be the very thing that would water the seeds of doubt planted by Langda. The filter of these words is put over his eyes whenever he looks at Dolly and he would ponder about which of her side is the real one, the one who claims to love him or the one who is being unfaithful, from his clouded judgment. Omkara proved to be of fickle nature who was easily swayed by the utterings of others and where Dolly’s love for Omkara was of unwavering faith, his lacked the fervor, in life and in his decision of dying. He came off as a weak man again when he shot himself in the heart because he wasn’t courageous enough to deal with the fact that he smothered the love of his life to death and he would be the force he considers himself to be if he had accepted his foolishness of believing others. Omkara took the easy way out; his self-induced punishment was child’s play at best for a man who claimed to be nothing short of a tiger.
Langda on the other hand, despite his physical disability was more man than Omkara could ever be because even in his final moments, he stood by his stance “Think what you must”. Langda is a complex character, his agenda is driven by the wrongs that have been committed against him unlike his counterpart, Iago, who is plotting against Othello since the very start with his bitterness for Cassio being promoted to lieutenant and his malice for Othello being the seeds to grow his scheme. This results in relativity for Langda who can be sympathized with. In Othello, the hatred of Iago for Othello is very briefly explained while in Omkara, the audience sees it play out right before their eyes in Kesu being chosen over Langda. The expectations were already built up on Langda’s part but when Omkara proceeds to appoint Kesu as the general while Langda holds the ritualistic plate, this move came as a shock not only to the audience but also Langda as well who masks his disappointment and anger through forced smiles. Iago was a man who was deceptive and schematic to his core whereas Langda was more of a person who didn’t cause events rather he took advantage of how events shaped in the sense that it was Indu who stole the waistband of her own will and its usefulness is realized by Langda in that very moment.
Omkara, just like Bhardwaj’s other adaptation was phenomenal in its execution with its roots deeply embedded in Indian realism without ever having an aura of fakeness to it. It is relatable, entertaining yet still shrouded in the cloak of darkness that the tragedies of Shakespeare are well known for.
