Othello - Shakespeare done Bollywood Style

Sunday, July 30, 2006

The Bard arrived in Bollywood yesterday with the release of the first big-budget cinema version of a Shakespeare play in India: Omkara, an adaptation of Othello. Instead of the Moor of Venice, the movie's main character is a political strong man in the badlands of north India.

The film has been translated into Hindi, and its writers say it stays faithful to the classic story of a warrior hero who's innocent in love and hence vulnerable to the treachery of his companion-in-arms. The play's universal themes are all kept intact, but just put in an Indian setting.

The jealousy, plotting and tragedy are all still there in Omkara. "What has changed is that we have tried to make [Othello> understandable to an Indian audience", says Abhishek Chaubey, who co-wrote the film.

Most notable is that Othello's racial difference becomes one of caste in India. Omkara is a muscle man born of a low caste mother who has emerged as the local leader of a Brahmin party. He is set to marry a 'fair' daughter of a powerful political chieftain. Omkara is literally a 'half-caste' ruffian who has become a leader. Because of the insecurity about whether he is accepted or not, everything is destroyed for him.

Omkara stars some of the most noted Bollywood actors such as Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, and Bollywood heartthrob Ajay Devgan.