Omkara and the Indian Shakespeare - Summer of Shakespeare

India has had a long, strained relationship with Shakespeare. How exactly can the Bard go Bollywood?
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[@madmakx187]

Omkara being a half-caste makes much more sense than him being a Muslim if we're drawing parallels to Othello. Muslims ruled over India for centuries and have roads, buildings and cities named after them. There might have been tensions between the Muslims and the majority but they aren't outsiders, half of the Indian film industry is Muslim. Lower castes on the other hand have been historically oppressed and even today don't have a large role in mainstream culture. Bollywood for example has hardly any Dalits especially in lead roles.

[@sam0318]

+Mayank Sharma I fully agree. Othello was alienated for his appearance and regarded as a Moorish muslim foreigner in Venice. Having Omakara play a Muslim would also have worked as a Muslim "foreigner" in a predominantly Hindu village and he may have feel just as alienated since he would not have considered himself part of the same community. However, it is more clever for him to be a half-caste because not only is it infinitely more scandalous but also he would have been alienated in his own community. While Dalits are Hindus as well, they have been historically alienated and treated poorly by other Hindu castes (and even non-Hindus). However, while scheduled castes may have found support amongst themselves, Omkara's existence is very taboo and he would not have been readily accepted by, well any caste. There is a significant population of Muslims residing in the state of UP (~30million) with whom Omkara might have found solace, but being a half caste illegitimate child would have estranged him nationwide, if not for his caste status than for being born out of wedlock. Thereby, way more tragic.

[@EmpressTiffanyOfBrittany]

Are Muslims subject to caste prejudice?

[@akka870]

Mayank Sharma Muslims don't have a caste system 🙂

[@YTSurfer001]

Not in India (at least the South). It may not be called caste, but the tone of your skin pits chaste Muslims against the converts and that subtlety shifts by the State/Region.

[@bentknee5924]

Not in theory, but yes in practice. Even Christians and Sikhs in India have a caste.

[@imthiazmuhassin3267]

The thing is the director actually made a trilogy based on Shakespeare, Maqbool - Macbeth; Omkara - Othello; Haider - Hamlet. All of them were well received

[@SatyaVenugopal]

Good job on the research on the Indian context of the movie. One interesting note to add on your discussion of the significance of characters' family names: Omkara's surname is Shukla. Not only is this a North Indian Brahmin name, as you rightly pointed out, but it literally means 'white' in Sanskrit. Contrast that to his darker skin tone (actually, skin colour is a big deal in the subcontinent too... fairness creams are a big thing and marketed to play on people's insecurities, having a bride/groom or giving birth to a child of darker skin is seen as problematic, while the converse is true of fairer skin, etc.). Also contrast it to the racial connotations of his darker skin tone in the source material as well as to his character and occupation... you get the idea. It was a doubly clever play on words naming him Shukla, of all Brahmin names to pick. His surname seems to have been chosen to encapsulate precisely the 'straying' of the characters in the story from their caste-based occupations and their caste-based character traits you cited. (Brahmins are supposed to be forgiving, patient, and peaceful in the Hindu scriptures, and it's the warrior caste who are supposed to possess and demonstrate more macho militaristic character-traits, while channelling them into the pursuit of justice and punishment of wrongdoers/protection of oppressed Brahmins. Of course the Hindu scriptures have several examples of Brahmins who are quick to anger (sages like Durvasa are quick to curse people for perceived slights) and aggressive and even some who are warriors themselves (see Parashu Rama, i.e. Rama of the Axe, and Drona from the Mahabharata) although these characters have always elicited controversy for that reason, even in literature that casts them sympathetically/as protagonists.) There are other nice little contextual touches as well. For instance, when Dolly's dad asks, "Were there no other women for you to charm apart from my daughter?" that's almost certainly a reference to the fact that Uttar Pradesh has one of the most skewed gender ratios in India because of decades of female infanticide, leading to the recent phenomenon of daughters actually being prized because there's a scarcity of marriageable women for bachelors, especially in rural areas. (Match-making, betrothals, and marriage proposals often cross state lines nowadays out of necessity even among more insular, rural communities.)

[@KyleKallgrenBHH]

This is all fascinating! Thank you so much for the information. I recall hearing about the fairness cream phenomenon before but I didn't think to put two and two together here. Great comment!

[@rvunited1524]

Sir please watch Vishal Bharadwaj's Maqbool, his re-creation of Macbeth

[@aadityabhattacharya]

Rb United or Haider based on hamlet

[@rahulthekkedath8923]

Thanks for this cogent and comprehensive answer. It covered most of what I wanted to say.

[@gabe_s_videos]

The funniest part about the Johnny Bravo joke? Johnny Bravo is actually super popular in India. Makes me wonder if he knew that.

[@EmpressTiffanyOfBrittany]

... What XD How.

[@gabe_s_videos]

The same reason David Hasselhoff is popular in Germany: cuz.

[@Wintermute01001]

Everyone likes the strange and exotic.

[@oof-rr5nf]

Robogabriel Right on. I miss the entirety of Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. I am just 21 years old, no reason to be this damn nostalgic already . . .

[@medhakumar7796]

Loved this! Don't think anyone's talking about Indian cinema so intelligently anywhere. Good job. As an Indian, I give you an A for not sounding obnoxious at all, like most white people do when they talk about my country(and especially Bollywood). You're the greatest.

[@HipsterShiningArmor]

Lord Thomas Babbington Macauley is exactly the sort of person you'd expect someone named Lord Thomas Babbington Macauley to be.

[@ninaavins4887]

I find it kind of interesting how many adaptations, seeking to translate the social dynamics of Shakesphere's royal or noble characters into a modern setting, hit on organized crime. I'm not sure if it says more about Elizabethan nobles or modern career criminals, but it says something.

[@ThePa1riot]

Nina Avins I think it says more about whom holds the power in today’s society versus back then. Inherited titles, honor culture justifying death. These things happen in modern society, but outside of what is considered acceptable. Organized crime. That’s why the Romeo and Juliet Prince character both in Romeo + Juliet and West Side Story is a cop. He’s the one with the actual authority looking from the outside at the madness of feuding factions over arcane and arbitrary gripes. Granted how culpable he is in the tragedy is vastly different in both versions but you know what I mean. The cop IS the modern world. The rule of law rather than the law of those who rule. When the results of the old world are made clear, the modern world either condemns it in the case of + or can just helplessly gawk as in West.

[@KevlarNinja]

Did Kyle make a Johnny Bravo reference? Man, do I regret falling behind on his show.

[@vishakhthomas]

Kaliyattam is not a "Malayan" film. It is a "Malayalam" film. Malay is spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia and also Singapore to an extent. Malayalam is the language spoken in the state of Kerala, India. They're quite different.

[@KyleKallgrenBHH]

Whoops! I'm so sorry. I didn't have anyone to correct my pronunciation. I wrote "Malayalam" but when reading my line I must've dropped a syllable and it came out as "Malayam." My fault.

[@vishakhthomas]

Ah! Makes sense. So - the pronunciation is Mul-a-yaa-llum. You "ya" was shorter and so I missed the ending "-am". It's frankly a nitpick in an otherwise splendid video, especially considering how many Indians can't pronounce the word right. :P - meant it as an FYI more than any thing else.

[@mistertea603]

...damn, that Omkara song FUCKING SLAPS!!!! I would love to add to the intelligent discussions going on underneath me but... DAMN IT SLAPS

[@alchemist4evr]

I really wish you would look at Haider, it's Hamlet but during the Kashmir conflict

[@Musketeer3]

"Uttar Pradesh Side Story" actually made me laugh

[@DavidMacDowellBlue]

8:29 I don't see how the fact the plot depends on slut-shaming makes the the story un-feminist when said slut-shaming is part of what makes everything go wrong. OTHELLO is a tragedy in the Elizabethan sense--the story of a hero who makes a terrible moral error (or set of errors). I personally find the play only works with its emphasis on the world in which the story takes place--exploring a milieu where no lives have been examined, where everyone thinks themselves other than what they are, where vanity and appearance (i.e. reputation) is all important. The tragedy isn't that Iago exists, but that this society not only made Iago inevitable but created the very weaknesses that destroyed both Othello and Desdemona.

[@CurtlyTalks]

Sorry to seem out of place here(being a year late to each comment), but this isn't the only Shakespeare adaptation that he did, but I guess you knew that. He directed Maqbool(2003), an adaptation of Macbeth with the lead character a little more familiar to Western Audiences(the old Pi from Life of Pi), and since you did a video about Kurosawa's Macbeth, it would be nice to do a comparison between these two adaptations of The Scottish Play, and see them in different genres in different countries, this one based in modern Mumbai, with more of a Godfather feel to it.

[@oof-rr5nf]

Pranav Kumar Not to forget Haider (adp. of Hamlet)! God, I love that film SO much.

[@bearowl4101]

The bit about Macauley helped me with a university assignment. I looked up the quote and used the piece he wrote as a reference, so thank you for telling me about him.

[@ruthielalastor2209]

Wooow. * looks for this movie right away *

[@kirreranin9991]

I love your videos! If ever in need of another Bollywood Shakespeare then there is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela that came out in 2013. It's basically Romeo and Juliet, but as someone who watches a lot of Indian cinema(mainly Bollywood), Sanjay Leela Bhansali is basically (in my mind) the Kenneth Branagh of Bollywood. If you ever come across this comment then consider it. Bhansali has a tendency for pomp, gorgeous music and cinematography as well as a sets take your breath away(see Deewani Mastani). Ram-Leela is one of is more 'modern' films and more commercial than his previous films(see Devdas and Bajiao Mastani, Hum dil de chukhe salaam counts in a way). Personally I consider this as the audition for Bajiao Mastani and needed to be commercial to get him the money. So if you ever come across this comment just take it in to consideration. I love your videos and I cannot wait for them. :)

[@Infini2k]

Too late for me to comment? Though for your knowledge : OMKARA name can be used and is used along with its various variations by all castes. The caste system did not originate as rigid in ancient India, but became rigid with invasions and migrations(much before Islam set foot). Brahmins are not only involved in priestly duties, but alsom were traditionally involved in Admnistration, Fighting, Farming & Imparting education. Brahmins were/are not monolith, just as not all doctorates are phd's are in arts :) The castes that were depicted in this movie were "Bhumihar Brahmins". You may want to read about "Bhumihar Brahmins" & "Mohyal Brahmins"

[@harshilldhingra4984]

after seeing it for the 4th time im noticing the transistions between topics is so smooth and nonobservant. keeep it up

[@munmunhazarika5247]

Do a review on Maqbool(maqbeth) and haider(hamlet)....... Both by same director named Vidhal Bharatdhwaj.

[@pdzombie1906]

Your videos are so well researched and funny... you are probably the second most underappreciated channel (my number one is Like Stories of Old, is like yours but with more poetic video essays). Thanx, keep up the great work!!!

[@amiefortman7220]

I seem to recall Othello having been played by non-black actors in the past. Anthony Hopkins played him at one point, as did Raul Julia. And as far as I've heard, both of them did fantastic work with the role. So it's possible.

[@jaredlow4362]

My favorite (and may be the only instance where I actually like it) would be Patrick Stewart's role as the titular character - but he played opposite a cast where the rest were all black actors.

[@amiefortman7220]

***** Oh, now that is kind of clever.

[@LazarSoljaga]

"Do the monkey" I lost it when you said that.

[@ananya1721]

Very articulate and well made! 😊🖤

[@bisquintana326]

What's the opening Omkara song called? I want to find it on Itunes.

[@namanmukeshchaudhary7704]

It is called Omkara Title Song. Here is the link; itunes.apple.com/us/album/omkara-original-motion-picture/id209061793

[@bisquintana326]

TY!

[@denvorsden7903]

Watch Haider, the Bollywood adaptation of Hamlet. (Also by the same director) It talks about the problems faced by Kashmiris in India due to militancy.

[@farhanibrahim7352]

Wow, this was a great review

[@brennabrodbeck5183]

You should check out Manichtrathazhu and Ammoru. They are both really good. But warning on Ammoru , the family dynamic will confuse you. The best way to thikn about was to think of them as cousins

[@alitasneem6063]

Another thing I noticed I Omkara. The color red is a recurring motif, probably signifying the color of blood. In fact, almost all characters ar being smeared red and sometimes the source is blood. Ajay Devgn appears wounded and Kareena is smeared with his blood. Vivek Oberoi is being smeared in red when he is being promoted. Saif Ali is the only one coloring himself red.

[@AL-jg4pr]

Was a great video

[@PrasannaVighne]

Great! Try and do Haider - the same director's version of Hamlet.

[@mig5l]

"Educated found themsleves willingly patronising Shakespeare ( plays)" love the double entendre

[@alexiaNBC]

What is your opinion of Haider (the Kashmir Hamlet)?

[@disconnected22]

It’s been almost a decade - can we have more Shakespeare?

[@toomuchcandor3293]

4:18 can you someone send me source for the claim "first courses on shakespeare weren't taught in england but in india"

[@munmunhazarika5247]

My respect and love....... From assam india

[@canadmexi]

How do you pronounce "'Sblood", is it like "Od's blood"?

[@guillermoherrera9860]

There’s a chilean Romeo & Juliet, it’s about football clubs and it’s thrash

[@russellandmelindalittle7168]

Good job

[@zbaksh101]

You should check out Haider. Bhardwhaj based it off Hamlet. Nice work on Omkara.

[@anubhabbiswas4901]

Dilwell dulhania LaJeyenge sounds like an arthouse movie

[@lamecasuelas2]

Intriguing, i am far from familiar with Indian cinema, and specially with Bollywood, i'd like to know which titles are likely to if not like, at least generate some sort of nice discussion to an outsider like myself. Nice video

[@sam0318]

+The Raul Guerrero G Well, director Vishal Bhardwaj's movies that are reworkings of Shakespeare are "MAQBOOL" - Macbeth and "HAIDER" - Hamlet. I remember liking Maqbool a lot and Haider was pretty good too. One of my favorites in recent years has been Kahaani by Sujoy Ghosh, which is a crime thriller of sorts. If we are talking about classic Bollywood movies, Oancitizen mentioned Mother India, which is highly acclaimed. There is also the Indian Spaghetti Western "SHOLAY" which is a religion in India with how popular it is. "GUIDE" by Vijay Anand was very good as well, more complex than the simple Romeo and Juliet trope most stories follow. Mani Ratnam's ROJA and BOMBAY and MAACHIS by Gulzar comment on the complicated religious relations in India, although they can be a little cheesy and melodramatic at times. RANG DE BASANTI was a very powerful coming of age movie. MUGHAL-E-ASAM = Romeo and Juliet a la Mughal period. DEVDAS, which is a tragic romance. While PAHELI was a whimsical and fantastical romance. Now, for comedies my personal favorites are CHASHME BUDDUR (1981) which is a simple comedy that encapsulates the late 70s and early 80s Indian youth; GOLMAAL (1979) was basically consequences of small white lies; ANGOOR (1982) - Comedy of Errors; 3 IDIOTS (2009) which looks at the plight of Indian students; JAANE BHI DO YAARON (1983) which is a murder mystery but the most famous sketch in this requires some knowledge of Indian mythology; and this one may not be as popular as the rest but I love it for its simple plot CHUPKE CHUPKE (1975) in which a family is basically trolling one of its members. These are mostly Bollywood movies that I am familiar with, but there are various other amazing movies that are in languages besides Hindi. There are numerous critically acclaimed Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, etc. movies that I have missed, not to mention the prolific Tollywood, which releases huge number of films in South Indian languages. You will find that a number of movies above are often based on works in other languages. I wish you luck as you explore Indian cinema and I hope you can eventually come across most of its gems as your palate expands.

[@lamecasuelas2]

sam0318 hey, thanks man now all i need is to find em'

[@sam0318]

+The Raul Guerrero G A few of them are on Netflix, some of the older ones are on youtube and the rest, well, google may be your best friend. You don't have to watch them all, maybe just look up the ones you find interesting and then take it from there.

[@lamecasuelas2]

sam0318 okidoki

[@rahulthekkedath8923]

The Raul Guerrero G You cN always look up Indian films on IMDB. They post a list of top Indian films based I. the votes. The one confusion you may have is that the list will be a mixture of top films from multiple languages spoken across india. But Hindi films induatey, the biggest producer of films (Omkara is one of them) in India features heavily in the list. But as I said , it's a diving board, a starting point...

[@canadmexi]

What was "Hallamas Day"? I know it was November 1st, when Othello was first performed but I literally couldn't tell you anything else about it, Google wasn't helpful.

[@gaffarguddu3471]

best movie

[@johndavidtibbetts7320]

9:58 wait, Brahmin? Like, like the cows from the fallout games?! Was that intentional on Interplays part? Because now I can't unsee that XD

[@miriamquintana755]

I'm not one hundred percent sure, and this is me making an educated guess, the cows were likely named after the brahman cattle, and the spelling was changed for whatever reason.

[@michaelkenner3289]

Also Brahma, a significant figure in Hindu mythology, is usually depicted with four faces and the Brahmin cattle in Fallout have two heads. Plus the cow is often considered a sacred animal in various Hindu beliefs, much like the Brahmin are considered the priestly caste. I think the name in Fallout draws inspiration from all of these ideas without being a direct one to one reference to any of them.

[@oof-rr5nf]

You did a great job! - Sincerely, an Indian and a big fan of Vishal Bhardwaj. P.S. Please check out Haider (inspired by Hamlet) and Maqbool (inspired by Macbeth) that are also by him! If you get the time.

[@haphazardlark1502]

7:28 apology for that pun not accepted because it fucking breathed life into me

[@lindabuonline]

I love Bollywood movies.

[@shuvankarchakraborty6370]

Dilwal Dulhan LeJayeng! ROFL!

[@shawn6669]

While looking for a a piece I'd either read or seen years ago with Hitchens and Rushdie discussing the development over time of an Indo-English literature that deserves to be recognized as it's own thing, but instead found this on renaming classic works and strangely enough...it works just as well for something to add to this discussion. FWIW: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZauhGZ4iph9rrc

[@harshilldhingra4984]

what about the ramen ? i already had lunch

[@ma7ur97]

for obvious reason

[@ketikagarg]

caste is a much bigger problem in india than race is in the US.

[@MrColuber]

Desdemona's death was an honor killing? That's the first time I heard of that. And Moors are from Mauretania (or rather, Mauretania was named for the Mauri, a people who existed in antiquity); the name Morocco comes from Marrakesh. And the Moors were not necessarily Black as in Sub-Saharan African Black. Some Algerians are as white as any European. Besides, the original tale seems more about the difference of religion than race. And if Othello is a former Muslim, than he is NOT a Muslim and therefore, did not kill as many Muslims as you say he did. Muslim is not a race.

[@niksal2705]

Honest remark ...here people just sweapt under rug....there is no more cast in India as there is no race in States..

[@spauldinjg]

I'm not sure that Orson Welles' Othello was as completely about race as you say. The Welles' black face doesn't mean he thought he could play it better than a black man (he directed an full black casting of Macbeth in Broadway), but I think it means how different he felt from the spheres he was evolving in. So, please use caution when you say "Othello has always, ALWAYS been about race, at least in the west". I think Orson Welles is Western. My nitpicking is done.

[@tereziamarkova2822]

Well, coming from one of those countries I just can't appreciate the mere notion of our existence. :D

[@lostmybadger]

nah

[@Whitetiger770]

That would have been awesome if Omkara was Muslim because Muslims have often had problems in India.

[@alexiaNBC]

True but that's more because of suspicion and political issues. Dalits, however, are seen as racially and economically inferior (even today) because of their caste system. For a Dalit male to marry a woman of a higher caste in India would have the same impact to a black man marrying a white woman in the 1920s

[@gabbar51ngh]

Muslims are literally dominant in South Asia. Got separate nations out of India and still the second largest community in india. They're not oppressed by any means. If anything we have historical examples of non-muslims being unfairly treated them under them.

[@victoriousrufus6747]

The man is talking nonsense! Typical stereotyping other cultures!

[@deogiriyadav8399]

How misguided r u about India...... If India is a book.... Then u didn't even finish one paragraph....

[@medhakumar7796]

Loved this! Don't think anyone's talking about Indian cinema so intelligently anywhere. Good job. As an Indian, I give you an A for not sounding obnoxious at all, like most white people do when they talk about my country(and especially Bollywood). You're the greatest.