New Delhi: One of the most celebrated screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays in India stemmed from a fallout. A film starring Aamir Khan got shelved after creative differences between the actor and Vishal Bhardwaj. This later led the director to make Omkara, which completes 20 years today.
After the project did not materialise, Bhardwaj found himself returning to William Shakespeare. Though the filmmaker had read Shakespeare during his school days, he found the plays difficult to understand. It was only after reading a short story based on Shakespeare that he became interested in the playwright’s works and began finding them entertaining.
“I pitched the idea of Othello set against the backdrop of UP to Aamir. He really liked the idea,” Bhardwaj said in an old interview, published by WildFilmsIndia in 2020.
“When Aamir praised the concept, I realised it could actually be made into a movie. At that time, I wanted to work with Ajay Devgn, so I went to meet him first,” he added.
When Bhardwaj visited Ajay Devgn on a film set, he immediately felt he had found his Omkara. “Ajay is dark, handsome, lean, mean, and speaks through his eyes,” he recalled.
Around the same time, Bhardwaj also gave the script to Naseeruddin Shah. “He read it at night and called me early the next morning saying, ‘Brother, I want to play all the roles, don’t give any role to anyone else!'” Bhardwaj recalled. Shah plays Tiwari Bhaisaab in the film, a regional politician based on Othello’s Duke of Venice.
Saif Ali Khan played Langda Tyagi in Omkara, a role that demanded a complete physical transformation. Before Omkara, the actor had appeared in films such as Hum Tum (2004), Salaam Namaste (2005), and Parineeta (2005), with his signature long hair that had become his on-screen identity. So, when Bhardwaj asked him to cut it short for the role, Saif was initially reluctant.
“When I asked him to cut it (hair) short, he stopped talking to me!” Bhardwaj said.
However, when the team reached the shooting location, it was Eid. Bhardwaj reminded Saif of the festival’s spirit, telling him, “On Eid, sacrifices are made. Sacrifice your hair and accept this role.”
The advice worked. “On the night before shooting began, at 12:00 AM, he came to my hotel room and showed me that he had gotten a crew cut,” Bhardwaj recalled.
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The adaptation
While the hair issue was resolved, Bhardwaj demanded even more commitment from Saif for Langda Tyagi. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor revealed that there was a monologue scene in which Langda Tyagi was supposed to be completely naked while talking to his reflection in the mirror.
Saif recalled that Bhardwaj wanted him to perform the scene nude, to which he replied, “If you direct me naked, I’ll do it.” However, the idea was eventually dropped, and the scene was not shot that way.
Looking back, Saif admitted that he regretted not doing it. “It would have looked even spookier. I’d do it today, but I’d have to go to the gym and stuff before,” he said.
At the same time, Vishal Bhardwaj managed to not just adapt Shakespeare’s Othello but also reimagine it in the setting of UP and Bihar villages. In Othello, the white handkerchief becomes the symbol of love and trust before leading to suspicion and conflict. In Omkara, Bhardwaj recreates the same emotions through the kamarbandh (waist chain).
Released on 28 July 2006, Omkara was critically acclaimed for its performances, writing, and music. However, the film had a modest run at the box office, earning around Rs 42.4 crore worldwide against a budget of about Rs 26 crore.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)