Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
Movie Reviews

'Omerta': Cold, Brutal And Repulsively Compelling

IANS, 03 May, 2018 01:06 PM
    Director: Hansal Mehta
     
    Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Timothy Ryan Hickernell, Keval Arora, Sanjeev Chopra
     
    Rating: * * 1/2
     
     
    Hansal Mehta is an accomplished film maker, but his "Omerta" is not one that will shine as one among his best, simply because, it offers nothing exceptional.
     
     
    Cinema is always considered to be an art form to be gawked at and admired. And Hansal leaves no stone unturned while mounting this evil-crime drama. Though, astutely crafted and brilliantly mounted, the film lacks a soul.
     
     
    Based on real life events and modified for cinematic liberty, "Omerta" is the biography of Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, who had links to various Islamist militant organisations and was responsible for several terrorist activities in India and Pakistan.
     
     
    The film exposes state-sponsored terrorism and how it manipulates young minds into believing a sordid interpretation of struggle or fight against the enemies of one's religion. This is not a film about the rightness or wrongness of Omar's cause or the political situation that inspired it. It simply documents his cold-blooded journey.
     
     
    In the process, the film inadvertently glorifies terrorism. Sans any entertainment, there are blood churning moments that make you feel repulsed right from the kidnapping of a few foreign tourists in Delhi to the scenes that involve the annihilation of the Wall-Street journalist Daniel Pearl, in Pakistan.
     
     
    Narrated in a non-linear manner, the film is taut and engaging during the first act. The second act loses it sheen due to the poor editing that causes the confusion between place and period. And, the third act with the inclusion of many news-media stock-footages, seems a tad tacky and a rushed job to wrap this non-conclusive narrative,
     
     
    The characters are well-etched and mounted with utmost realism. On the performance front, the film is Rajkummar Rao's canvas and as usual, he is impressive as the thoughtful and quixotic Omar. He delivers a brilliant performance as the emotionally inclined but brutally barbarous, "intelligent and well-educateda member of the holy war.
     
     
    Timothy Ryan Hickernell who has a striking resemblance to Daniel Pearl offers an earnest portrayal. Keval Arora as Saeed Sheikh - Omar's helpless and lost father is sincere.
     
     
    Shot across actual locations, Anuj Rakesh Dhawan's cinematography is simple yet effective. It captures the fine nuances of Neil Chowdhury's production designs, the locales and the emotions of the cast, to perfection.
     
     
    Ishaan Chhabra's music along with Mandar Kulkarni's sound design seamlessly mesh in the narrative. The visuals and sound are astutely layered by Aditya Warrior's razor-sharp editing.
     
     
    The title, "Omerta" which in Italian means a code of silence about criminal activity and a refusal to give evidence to the police, refers to the attitude of ordinary people who look the other way and don't bring the criminals to book. It denotes the motivating factor of Omar's strife.
     
     
    Overall, at the end as you leave the theatre, you are bound to question the motive of this film and its worthiness.

    MORE Movie Reviews ARTICLES

    Movie Review: 'Raja Natwarlal' - dapper caper

    Movie Review: 'Raja Natwarlal' - dapper caper
    Sassy and slick, "Raja Natwarwal" is a con caper done up in playful shades and mischievous flavour. It's enjoyable while it lasts. But you don't come away with anything besides...

    Movie Review: 'Raja Natwarlal' - dapper caper

    Movie Review: 'Mardaani' - makes right noises about child trafficking

    Movie Review: 'Mardaani' - makes right noises about child trafficking
    Rani Mukerji brings in a level of credibility to the character. Her action scenes are never larger than life. She is not a show-offy cop. And that's a blessing. "Mardaani" is film that is...

    Movie Review: 'Mardaani' - makes right noises about child trafficking

    'The Expendables 3' High On Action, Low On Performance

    'The Expendables 3' High On Action, Low On Performance
    What keeps you hooked is your patience or your fancy craze to see the once glorious A-list action stars perform. By and large, "The Expendables 3" may appeal only to front benchers who enjoy the adrenaline rush of mindless violence.

    'The Expendables 3' High On Action, Low On Performance

    Movie Review: 'The Giver' - disappointing, one dimensional tale

    Movie Review: 'The Giver' - disappointing, one dimensional tale
    The last act of the film hinges on absurdity. The badly edited sequence, which includes generic and vague shots of war and agitation which suddenly pop-up combined...

    Movie Review: 'The Giver' - disappointing, one dimensional tale

    Movie Review: 'Singham Returns' notches above regular fare

    Movie Review: 'Singham Returns' notches above regular fare
    And that's not all. The finale song, "Mala raag ala, raag alaa aata maji satakli," which rolls during the end credits, will soon be the new anthem of the frontbenchers...

    Movie Review: 'Singham Returns' notches above regular fare

    Movie Review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' - Must watch for Marvel fans

    Movie Review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' - Must watch for Marvel fans
    Charles Wood's production design coupled with Ben Davis's cinematography has ensured that director James Gunn gets what he had envisioned to reproduce an archetypal...

    Movie Review: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' - Must watch for Marvel fans