'Vishal has adapted Omkara brilliantly'

New Delhi: The film we have been eagerly waiting for is finally here.

Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara,an adaptation of Othello is the big Friday release and the man of the moment surely is Ajay Devgan.

Here are excerpts of an interview with him.

CNN-IBN: You once said Omkara perhaps is a better piece of storytelling than Othello itself. Do you still stand by that?

Ajay Devgan: I never said that. What I meant was that when things are adapted, they are not adapted as well. And when Vishal has brilliantly adapted Omakara to our kind of scenario and that’s what I meant.

CNN-IBN: Should Omkara be seen as a good Hindi film and not in the context of Othello.

Ajay Devgan: Yes. Like Vishal adapted Maqbool brilliantly, I think he has done justice with this film also.

CNN-IBN: But has Vishal taken any liberties with the film?

Ajay Devgan: I don’t think he has taken liberties where the basic script is concerned. He sticks by what it is. But, he has created his own things and what suits the Indian audiences. The basic emotion and drama is the same.

CNN-IBN: Most of your characters have been urban centric in films like Company. In Omkara, you play a character straight from the Hindi heartland. How difficult is it for you to make these transitions as an actor? Would you say then that this is one of your most challenging roles?

Ajay Devgan: I would give all the credit to my directors. And if you have a director like Vishal, who understand everything and knows what exactly he wants and there is no confusion, then it gets a lot easier for the actors as well. In this film, the only difficult part was the language, which is a little different than what we normally use, also in UP. He has picked up this language from a part of UP which has it’s own flavour.

Omkara stars Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Kokona Sensharma among others.

Set in rural Uttar Pradesh, Omkara revolves around outlaws and grassroot politics.

Ajay Devgan plays Omi and Kareena is his love interest Dolly.

Saif Ali Khan and Viviek Oberoi are the two lieutenants of Ajay Devgan.

Saif Ali Khan plays Omkara's nemesis Langda Tyagi

Viviek Oberoi plays Kesu, the fiercely loyal right hand man to Omkara

Bipasha Basu's steamy number Beedi is being pitched against last year's hit number Kajra re from the film Bunty aur Babli.

Bhardwaj's wife Rekha has lent her voice to the song Namak Issak Ka

CNN-IBN: You were always called the action hero. But we have seen a spate of movies Ganagjal, Bhoot, where you have readapted yourself. Is that a conscious effort?

Ajay Devgan: No. It’s just that I have been very lucky to have been offered such films with characters that have been appreciated and with directors who knew exactly what they were doing.

CNN-IBN: Is there a subconscious internal battle as to who comes out best in a multi-starrer?

Ajay Devgan: No. It’s just that we all are friends and we get along very well and the bottom line is that if an action has good reaction, that’s how a film is going to work.

CNN-IBN: But who is the stellar performance in Omkara?

Ajay Devgan: I think everybody is very good. Saif has a very different role in the film. But, everybody has done justice to their characters.

CNN-IBN: In one of your interviews, you said you hadn’t watched Kajol’s Fanaa as yet because you were abroad at that time. Have you got her to watch Omkara or have you both decided that you won’t watch each other’s films? You’ll only watch each other in advertisements.

Ajay Devgan: No she has watched my film and I am supposed to watch her film. I will do that.

CNN-IBN: Any Shakespeare character that you would like to play?

Ajay Devgan: No. I can’t think of any. It’s just that when Vishal came to me, he had already adapted it and I loved the way he had done it and that’s why I went ahead and did it. But before this, I never thought I’d love to play Othello also.

CNN-IBN: Thank You Ajay.

Ajay Devgan: Thank You.