Maqbool vs Omkara

Two nights ago, due to a lack of sleep and extreme boredom I revisited Maqbool and Omakara, Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptations of Macbeth and Othello and I must say that I ended up changing my initial views on these two films. I remember raving and ranting about how good Omkara was and how it was such an improvement for Vishal Bharadwaj as a filmmaker. Basically I reacted like every film critic in India. Unfortunately, I must eat my words shamelessly.

Maqbool is the movie where Bharadwaj has shown that he is a filmmaker that we should look out for. He has beautifully and very meticulously adapted Macbeth for Indian sensibilities. The main characters have been fleshed out extremely well with outstanding performances by Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Irfann Khan, Tabu and Piyush Mishra. Pankaj Kapur, though, is the standout performance. His character bears shades of Marlon Brando in the Godfather, but Kapur has made the character his own. Even though he is physically diminutive, Kapur's character (Abbaji) exudes power. Kapur's Abbaji is the definitive 'Godfather' of Hindi cinema. Maqbool, though set in the squalor of the Mumbai underworld cannot really be called a gangster film. Its focus is on the characters and their human frailties. This is where Bharadwaj leaves his stamp as someone who is not interested in aping the gangster formula as conceived and unabashedly milked by Ram Gopal Verma.

Maqbool is the right blend of a tight script, brilliant performances and exceptional directing that is rarely seen in Hindi cinema these days.

Omkara, is definitely a technically superior movie than Maqbool. It is slicker and has a grander scale. Bharadwaj has shown an eye for detail by meticulously recreating the nexus that exists between politics and the underworld, especially in Uttar Pradesh. However, unlike Maqbool the focus is on the stars and not the characters. The only character that seems completely fleshed out is that of Langda Tyagi, which is essayed by Saif Ali Khan and is, not surprisingly, the stand out performance in the film. Saif's rustic, rural Iago is foul-mouthed, treacherous and at the same time slightly endearing. Saif is able to essay the hurt and betrayal his character feels at being overlooked as a successor to Omkara quite marvellously.

Unfortunately, other than Saif's performance and two remarkable cameos by Konkona Sen Sharma and newcomer Deepak Dobriyal, the rest of the star-studded cast deliver performances that are good but not memorable. As a friend of mine once mentioned, Bharadwaj might have been better off going with relatively unknown actors, since they would have approached the roles without the baggage of their star personae.

However, Bharadwaj should be given a standing ovation for turning to classic literature for ideas and for bringing Shakespeare to the masses and the effort he takes to adapt these classics to the Indian milieu. There seems to be a genuine effort by him to make films that are entertaining and at the same time have something for the connoisseur of good cinema.