Constrained Women in "Omkara": Marriage, Mythology, and Movies

Abstract

Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara is an unconventional Bollywood film that draws on the story of Othello to explore themes of suppression and vengeance that can be traced back to Indian mythology. The film invokes the allure of Bollywood to present a picture of patriarchy confirming that, for women in rural India, marriage is a space of confinement. This thesis focuses on the universal and permanent thematic structures that Bhardwaj highlights through his amalgamation of Othello with stories from Indian mythology resulting in a unique product in Omkara. This thesis propounds that women like Dolly, Indu, and Billoo, who are the female characters in Omkara, are at a disadvantage in marriage and, as the way they occupy various spaces further implies, they are therefore doomed to failure as individuals.