Omkara is Vishal Bharadwaj's own 'Wild West' adaption of the Shakespeare masterpiece "Othello" where the action is set around a gangland operating in the Indian badlands of Uttar Pradesh. This is Vishal's successive Shakespeare effort after the Macbeth inspired 'Maqbool' wowed critics and audiences alike with its gritty and precise storytelling.

Vishal has given an unusual twist to the film by humanizing Shakespeare's characters with the necessary folklore and ethnic charm that is unique to an Indian setting. All in all Omkara is a gripping modern day adaptation that makes it one of those rare instances of Shakespearean cinema that anyone can tune into and enjoy.

In an exclusive appearance on Filmy's Aaj Ki Filmy Khabar (AKFK) India's first authentic filmi news program, with the hard-hitting Sameer Kochhar, the stars of Omkara Bipasha Basu, Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Saif Ali Khan and Vishal Bharadwaj give insights on their preparation for the eagerly awaited movie 'Omkara'. These actors had not read the original play prior to accepting the role and here are some bytes from these Stars.

Q. Did these stars read the original play?

Bytes

-Bipasha Basu

ek baar padi thi bachpan mein kuch yaad nahin

Ajay Devgan

meine bahut zyaada nahin padi hai meine synopsis pade huen hain

Vivek

yeh hum school mein padte hain..Othello meine pada tha school mein

Kareena Kapoor

I have read Othello in school

Saif Ali Khan

I did do a lot of research and I read it coz I wanted to see what diago is about and what are the other interpretations of him

Vishal Bharadwaj

film shuru karne se pehle film shuru karne ke baad bhi script likhne ke baad bhi kain baar usse consult karta raha mein

Q. What was the preparation done by these stars for the film?

Bytes:

Vivek oberoi
mujhe guitar bajana seekhna pada and its very difficult to play the guitar and sing at the same time especially if im singing becoz im a bad singer and im a non singer to mujhhe kaafi coach kiya vishal ne kaafi protsahan diya inspiration diya

Bipasha Basu
vishal ne mere liye he had recorded the dialogues aur unhone kaha tha ki humesha sunti rehna tum usse to mein sunti rehti thi aur uske peeche repeat karti thi aur kabhi lagta tha ki oh my god what am I doing par jab set apr gayi to thoda mein dari but it just happened beautifully

Ajay Devgan
language thodi mushkil thi iske liye kaafi rehearsals kin gayin mera jo look tha sirf mujhe daadi moonch badani thi bas

Saif Ali Khan:
it was idea to cut my hair bt it seems a bit foolish now to sit around now and say that oh I cut my hair that's all I did jst got a haircut its no big deal what required more preparation for was learning the lines almost to the pint where u can sing them

Kareena Kapoor:
vishal had taken this film 10 steps ahead to vishal ji ka jo script tha voh itna badiya tha ki I didn't need to do research for anything

Watch the entire episode, which airs this Saturday, 29th July 2006 at 7:30 pm on Filmy.