A small advise for Vishal Bharadwaj before I file my thoughts on Omkara. Stop flogging the Shakespeare part of the film as he had done in Maqbool and now, Omkara. Like Maqbool, it is more relaxing to watch Omkara rather than start linking the original characters. It robs the real charm of the story, otherwise so beautifully told.

Omkara is a true and real representation of the Hindi hinterland and the goings ons in the political activities that we have since been subjected to. It is ironic that the very first acknowledgement card mentioned Amar Singh, for he is one of the real characters in the political scene who helped to move the value chain of Indian politics down to the pits. And it is this very pits is where Omkara is set. Leave aside the Othello, the Casio, the Iago and their desi derivatives, Bharadwaj has crafted a story like a master story teller with strong replication of the essence of the culture and ethnicity of the terrain, including the language. Full marks to Censor Board for being bold to let the film pass with out the cuts.

I am not going to re run the story for the readers as in most reviews as I think films are meant for watching and assimilating and not grasped through the coloumns of the critic, but all I can say is that the ditrector, who has also doubled up as the music man has had the pulse of the Badland completely in his grip and again full marks to Censor Board for allowing full, naked view of the Poltician Police nexus (and the mockery of it) with glimpses of Babloo Srivastavas generously sprinkled all over the story. The end is at once macabre and bizzare, perhaps the only Shakespaeare Seneca combo in the film.

In such a star studded film was it difficult to choose the best? Surprisingly, No! Saif Ali Khan. Langda Tyagi. And Konkona Sen Sharma. Remarkable.

Naseer could not be missed out either, not for the way he gets the Baratis to get in to the dance mood. He should know, after all he had led the cast and crew of the Monsoon Wedding some years ago!

Go, see Omkara. Not Othello.

[This review has been submitted by a guest columnist and an ardent film buff, Mr. Sujit Sanyal - Subhojit]