Ooooooomkara!

Where in India can you find romance without kissing, extreme violence and murder, awkward American songs, and an actual intermission? That’s right; head to your nearest cinema to see Omkara, the Hindi version of Shakespeare’s Othello!

Yes, it was certainly an experience. We headed to E Square, a seven-story mini-mall-meets-movie-theatre a few blocks from our hotel. We bought our tickets in the Ladies’ line (there are separate purchasing lines for ladies and gents, for some reason that I’m sure makes sense but that I can’t fathom) for about $3.50 US, and plunged in headfirst. We knew that the movie would be in Hindi without English subtitles, so we well knew what we were getting into. What we weren’t prepared for was the random sprinkling of English words, especially the charmingly awkward guitar duet (“I just called to say / I love you / I love you / I promise / From the bot-tom of my haaart…”). Also, just when the plot was becoming unbearably suspenseful, the lights went up for an actual intermission. All twelve of us, the only Americans or people-looking-somewhat-non-Indian in the place, cracked up. Nobody else found it even remotely amusing or unusual, so a thousand or so heads turned. Funny how I’m used to it by this point. Silly Americans!

Fortunately, thanks to Tom Lindblade’s thorough Shakespeare class, I’d read Othello several times and written an extensive paper on Iago’s motivations, which are really quite racy. I’ll tell you about it when I’m back home, since I don’t want to get my blog censored. Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention. For reasons that may or may not have to do with 7/11, blogspot and other blogging sites were blocked for a few weeks. You can write, but not read. But we’ve found a way around that. Tricky Americans!

Anyway. I was able to follow the plot pretty well, even though the director definitely put in his own input to the story. One thing that I noticed, however, were some of the interesting limitations on the more adult content, or as my dad would say, “poetic license.” I had heard that kissing was pretty rare in Indian movies, but there was plenty of sexuality. It was almost unnerving seeing a rather explicit sex scene that was entirely devoid of kissing. The clothing was scanty, the racy references were plenty (the non-verbal ones, anyway), but there was absolutely no kissing. I saw several men shot in the head, but the (married) Othello and Desdemona equivalents were forbidden to kiss. It’s interesting how, in contrast, some American PG-rated movies show at least a peck between spouses.

Finally, cell phones dominated my entire movie experience. Not only were they essential parts of every plot twist (I swear I saw more cell phones in Omkara than I saw in my college dorm last year. And that’s saying something), but they also went off every five minutes in the theatre. I suppose that cell phone etiquette is different here, since they didn’t just go off; they were almost always answered. Here’s an example:

Omkara (roughly translated): Oh, my love who I cannot kiss… I feel that you are unfaithful to me, and I must avenge myself to preserve my honor.

Desdemona (roughly translated): No, my husband! No! I have to tell you something that may change the entire plot of this movie that will be nonsensical to all Americans watching but that could affect everyone else in this picture. It is…

(phone rings in audience, bastardizing Beethoven’s Fifth yet again)

Audience member: Allo? Ah, Rohan! How are you doing? Oh, no, I have plenty of time to talk!

It was surprisingly funny for me, since it certainly didn’t make me understand the movie any less. Maybe it’s just shifting the emphasis of important things in life from things on screens to people in reality. Although I doubt that this revelation will make me any less anal about people talking in movies (as all my friends reading this nod in agreement), I understand it. Call me crazy, call me Westernized, just don’t call me late for dinner. It was a different experience, and it’ll be interesting to compare the viewing experiences of Omkara, a Hindi movie, with The Lady in the Water, which I hope to see soon. Don’t worry; I’m sure that there will be an exhaustive description as soon as I see it. I know you can’t wait. Silly Americans!

Love,

Sarah!

iPod: Bollywood music playing on the TV