Omerta Review: Rajkummar Rao Makes Your Skin Crawl With His Sinister Act!
Omerta movie review: Omerta is a brave attempt which doesn't sugarcoat the bitter pill. However, its effectiveness is lessened by the tedious tone of the narrative.
Reviews
oi-Madhuri
By Madhuri
Recommended
Video
Omerta
Movie
Review:
Rajkummar
Rao
|
Hansal
Mehta
|
FilmiBeat
Rating:
3.0/5
Star
Cast:
Rajkummar
Rao,
Rajesh
Tailang,
Rupinder
Nagra,
Kewal
Arora,
Timothy
Ryan
Hickernell
Director:
Hansal
Mehta
Hansal
Mehta's
Omerta
starring
Rajkummar
Rao
isn't
for
the
faint-hearted!
The
director-actor
duo
who
borrowed
several
stories
from
the
real
to
give
us
films
like
Shahid
and
Aligarh
get
you
up
and
close
with
the
British
terrorist
of
Pakistani
descent
Ahmed
Omar
Saeed
Sheikh
on
the
celluloid.
He
was
the
man
who
was
responsible
for
the
1994
kidnappings
of
Westerners
in
India
and
the
brutal
killing
of
Wall
Street
journalist
Daniel
Pearl
in
2002.
Hansal's
gripping
study
of
evil
is
limited
to
the
dramatization
of
the
real-life
notorious
terrorist;
some
of
which
is
easily
found
on
Wikipedia.
Omerta
begins
with
Rajkummar's
Omar
winning
arm-wrestling
matches
at
local
London
pubs
before
his
sinister
side
is
revealed
when
he
smooth-talks
three
British
backpackers
and
a
American
woman
and
holds
them
as
hostages
in
New
Delhi
demanding
the
release
of
ten
militants
imprisoned
in
the
fight
for
Kashmir's
independence.
The
mission
goes
bust
and
Omar
is
held
captive
in
Tihar
jail
where
he
is
subjected
to
torture.
But
all
the
beating
turns
him
even
more
icy
cold.
Soon,
he
is
is
released
in
exchange
for
the
passengers
aboard
hijacked
Indian
Airlines
Flight
814.
Omar
considers
this
as
his
victory
and
moves
on
to
unleash
more
terror.
Meanwhile,
the
earlier
flashbacks
reveal
how
Omar,
a
well-educated
lad
who
felt
strongly
for
the
Bosnian
attacks
in
1992
fell
into
the
clutches
of
Islamic
radicals
who
allured
him
towards
the
path
of
'jihaad'.
As
years
pass
by,
Omar
rises
up
in
the
ranks
with
his
brains,becomes
a
leader
in
Karachi
and
even
gets
married
off
to
a
trophy
wife
by
the
government
for
the
services
rendered.
Next
comes
the
most
notorious
event
where
Omar
abducts
and
brutually
murders
American
journalist
Daniel
Pearl
post
which
he
is
sentenced
to
death
and
imprisoned
in
Karachi
jail.
Omerta
lacks
a
moment
of
introspection
and
the
writing
is
majorly
to
be
blamed.
You
never
get
to
know
what
goes
inside
Omar's
head
whe
he
turns
to
'jihaad'
for
solutions
to
problems
or
get
a
peek
into
the
facet
of
his
personal
life.
You
know
he's
dangerous
but
what
makes
him
crave
for
blood
in
the
name
of
justice
and
religion?
What
made
him
become
a
ruthless
maniac
who
beheaded
Pearl?
The
film
stumbles
when
it
comes
to
answering
these
questions.
Even
Omar's
conversations
with
his
father
is
unidimensional.
Hansal
merely
presents
facts
and
makes
ample
use
of
new
footage
which
gives
the
film
a
very
docu-drama
feeling.
Speaking
about
the
film,
Omerta
is
Rajkummar
Rao's
show
all
the
way.
As
a
cold-blooded
sociopath,
he
delves
deep
into
the
darkness
to
send
shivers
down
your
spine.
His
commendable
presence
in
each
and
every
scene
keeps
you
glued
to
the
screen
from
the
word
'go'.
Yet
another
bravura
performance
from
the
talented
actor!
Be
it
the
scene
where
he
befriends
the
foreign
tourists
and
hoodwinks
them
or
when
he
butchers
Daniel
barbarically
and
then
wipes
the
blood
off
his
glasses,
Rao
makes
your
skin
crawl
with
his
chilling
amorality.
Timothy
Ryan
Hickernell
as
the
slain
journalist
Daniel
Pearl
plays
his
part
well.
Ishaan
Chhabra's
score
complements
well
with
the
film.
The
non-linear
editing
by
Anuj
Rakesh
Dhawan
might
put
off
certain
section
of
the
audience.
In
a
nutshell,
Omerta
is
a
brave
attempt
which
doesn't
sugarcoat
the
bitter
pill.
However,
its
effectiveness
is
lessened
by
the
tedious
tone
of
the
narrative.
The
film
is
worth
a
watch
purely
for
Rajkummar
Rao's
mind-blowing
transformation
into
a
sinister
figure.
Almost
towards
the
end,
you
have
him
parting
with
a
chilling
smile
on
his
face
when
he's
finally
caught
by
the
Pakistani
authorities.
That
haunting
look
is
what
lingers
for
long!
I
am
going
with
three
stars
here.