Omkara clocks 15: Vivek Oberoi recalls shooting song Beedi Jalaile on winter night

As ‘Omkara’ completed 15 years since its release, actor Vivek Oberoi took a stroll down memory lane and shared a few anecdotes from the film. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, Omkara revolves around a half-caste bandit Omkara Shukla (Ajay Devgn) who abducts his lady love, Dolly Mishra (Kareena Kapoor Khan) from her family. Actors Vivek Oberoi and Saif Ali Khan played pivotal roles in the movie.

Apart from the actors’ performances, the movie also became famous for its songs, especially the foot-tapping ‘Beedi jalaile’. Recalling shooting for the song, Vivek said: “It was magical how that song came about. Vishal bhai wanted to create a song for a special moment in the movie. He went to Gulzar saab and told him to write the lyrics. Vishal bhai’s brief was that he wanted a ‘hit song’. Not only should it be a good song, but it should be also a hit song. Instantly Gulzar saab came up with the lines, and everyone responded saying that we had a winner at hand.” The song was shot in Uttar Pradesh during winter.

“It was a cold evening and we shot through the night. It was the first time when I saw that when the song played everyone was up on their feet dancing and swaying to the beats of the song. Ganesh Acharya was there choreographing the song. Bipasha Basu, Saif Ali Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, and I were dancing in the song. And whenever that song played, not just us, literally everybody would start moving. It was freezing cold and the middle of the night, and despite all that the song just made everyone dance their hearts out. Everybody would dance no matter how tired or how cold they were. That was something quite special to see,” he added. 

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2006 movie Omkara was Vishal Bhardwaj’s take on Shakespeare’s Othello and cast Ajay Devgn in the titular role – Kareena Kapoor played his love interest. The cast of the film also included actors such as Konkona Sen Sharma and Naseeruddin Shah. Omkara fetched three National Awards for the team, including one for Vishal Bhardwaj.

Meanwhile, Vivek will be next seen in ‘Inside Edge 3’

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-with ANI inputs