About a year and half back, I was browsing movie review section and came across the review of 'Omkaara'. When Sulekha.com offered me free tickets, I grabbed them to check out the film myself. First scene, my jaws dropped. By the time movie finished I was totally impressed. It was a brilliant story telling. Staying close to the story, Vishal Bharadwaj added additional complexity to Othello's character. Another additional dimension by showing UP politics and violence that rules that area. Indianizing Shakespeare is not easy. Vishal Bharadwaj does it brilliantly.
I have heard quite a bit about Blue Umbrella. I also like Ruskin Bond. I was awaiting the release of the film, that never happened. I got a chance to watch it at my sisters house.
The movie had a delightful story. Pankaj Kapoor as a greedy shopkeeper and the girl who played Biniya were excellent. Camera work was fantastic. The way the director used seasons to capture the mood of the story was brilliant. The follows complete seasonal cycle, Summer the delight, Fall the theft, Winter the gloom, Spring the hope.
The movie was shot in Chamba Valley and surrounding mountains. I guess the locale was selected to compliement Missouri to capture the mood and weather. I had been to Dalhousie a city that oversees Chamba Valley a couple of times. So I have seen how beautiful the place is first hand. Also fairly familiar with the names of the places and also traveled in those buses.
One thing worth mentioning is the contrast between Omkaara and Blue Umbrella. One is a Shakespeare's tragedy meant strictly for adults and the other is a film that can be enjoyed by both adults and children. One has to be exceptionally talented to be able to do justice to both films. Now I call Vishal Bharadwaj an exceptional film maker.
3 comments:
I watched Omkaara but was not impressed due to the predictability of the story and the difficulty in understanding the dialogue. But the performances were too good. Watching Blue Umbrella was like being in a paradise. Its worth watching just for the visuals. Got to make a list and watch the rest of Vishals films. Any other good ones from him?
Thanks for your comment! You need to understand UP lingo a bit. Dialogues of that movie are very good. You cant blame the story predictability on Vishal. Othello has inspired many films.
He made 2 more films, makdee and maqbool. Maqbool is inspired by Macbeth. Makdee is javascript:void(0)
Publish Your Commentanother children's film. I didnt see these films. But on my to watch list.
Watched Maqbool. Would have loved to know what Ram Gopal Verma thought after seeing it :). Also watched Omkaara with subs and appreciate it better.
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