Eminent filmmaker, Vishal Bhardwaj talks about his iconic film, 'Omkara' and reveals how Aamir Khan was the first choice to play the role of 'Langda Tyagi' in it.
Vishal Bhardwaj is one of the most eminent filmmakers that Indian cinema has ever witnessed. He has created some of the most masterpiece of movies, such as Makdee, Dus Kahaniyaan, 7 Khoon Maaf amongst others. Moreover, he is even more notable for remaking popular Shakespearean dramas, Othello, Hamlet and Macbeth into the respective Hindi films, Omkara, Haider and Maqbool.
In a recent interview with Mid-Day, talented filmmaker, Vishal Bhardwaj recalled his iconic film, Omkara that was an adaptation of Shakesperean play, Othello. He revealed an interesting anecdote about the casting of Saif Ali Khan for the role of ‘Langda Tyagi’ and shared that he wasn’t the first choice for the same. Vishal added that he spent a lot of time with Aamir as they had done so many films together. He further revealed discussing with Aamir about making such a film and considering the latter for a role like ‘Langda Tyagi’. Elaborating more, he said:
“For Saif, I think, Aamir is responsible for that. We were doing that film together, so I spent a lot of time with Aamir. He is lovely company, and it’s fun to hang around with him. Aamir would share what he had in his mind and ask me what I had in my mind to plan for the future. So, I told him that I have this Othello, and this Langda Tyagi character with me.”
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Well, the cine lovers who have seen the film, Omkara will agree how much crucial the character of ‘Langda Tyagi’ was in the plot of the film. Speaking along the same lines, Vishal Bhardwaj shared how much Aamir Khan was keen to do a role like that. Revealing how the actor was simply fascinated by the character, Vishal stated:
“He told me, ‘Whenever you make this film, I’d love to be considered for Langda Tyagi. So that remained with me, but the film didn’t happen, I wasn’t working for one and a half years. I wanted to make a film desperately, so I thought if this character can excite Aamir so much, then I can excite some another star with this. At the time, I had seen Saif’s work.”
Unfortunately, Vishal Bhardwaj and Aamir Khan didn’t finally end up collaborating for the film, Omkara and it was Saif Ali Khan who was roped in for the particular character. Talking about the same, the filmmaker revealed that at that point of time, Aamir was already busy with his film, Rang De Basanti and as a result, his dates weren’t available for at least a year. Moreover, Vishal, too, didn’t want to wait and so casted any actor he found immediately.
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In the concluding segment of the interview, Vishal Bhardwaj spilled beans on going ahead with Saif Ali Khan as his choice of actor for the role of ‘Langda Tyagi’ in Omkara. The filmmaker unabashedly added that he had seen Saif’s ajeeb performances by then, but yet chose to overlook it. Moreover, he recalled convincing the actor a lot to shave off his head which he stubbornly refused to do it for the longest, but finally did it.
What do you think about unheard anecdotes from the film, Omkara?
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