Omkara (Hindi: ॐकारा) is a 2006 Indian film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, co-written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. It starred Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, and Kareena Kapoor in the lead roles, supported by Vivek Oberoi, Naseeruddin Shah, and Konkona Sen Sharma with a cameo role from Bipasha Basu. The director Vishal Bhardwaj himself composed the entire music for the film, including the background score, with lyrics by Gulzar.

The film was showcased at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival along with a book on the making of Omkara. It was also selected to be screened at the Cairo International Film Festival, where Bhardwaj was awarded for Best Artistic Contribution in Cinema of a Director. The film also won three awards at the Kara Film Festival, an award at the Asian Festival of First Films, three National Film Awards, and seven Filmfare Awards.

The film became part of a series by Bhardwaj of film interpretations of popular literary works, including Maqbool (2003) based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, The Blue Umbrella (2007) based on Ruskin Bond's The Blue Umbrella, and 7 Khoon Maaf which is an adaptation of Bond's Susanna's Seven Husbands.

Om or  aum (help·info) (written universally as ॐ; in Devanagari as ओं oṃ [õː], औं auṃ [ə̃ũ], or ओम् om [õːm]) is a mystical sound of Sanskrit origin, sacred and important in various Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The syllable is also referred to as omkara (ओंकार oṃkāra) or aumkara (ओंकार auṃkāra), literally "om syllable", and in Sanskrit it is sometimes referred to as प्रणव (praṇava), literally "that which is sounded out loudly".

Om is also written ओ३म् (ō̄m [õːːm]), where ३ is दीर्घ (dirgha, "three times as long"), indicating a length of three morae (that is, the time it takes to say three syllables)—an overlong nasalized close-mid back rounded vowel—though there are other enunciations adhered to in received traditions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred incantation to be intoned at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or prior to any prayer or mantra. It is used at the end of the invocation to the god being sacrificed to (anuvakya) as an invitation to and for that God to partake of the sacrifice.. The Māndukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable. The syllable consists of three phonemes, a (Vaishvanara),u (Hiranyagarbha), and m (Ishvara), which symbolize the beginning, duration, and dissolution of the universe and the associated gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, respectively. The name Omkara is taken as a name of God in the Hindu revivalist Arya Samaj and can be translated as "I Am Existence"^{[citation needed]}.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.

Saif Ali Khan (pronounced [ˈsɛːf əˈli ˈxaːn]; born 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor known for his work in Bollywood films. He is the son of the cricket player and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandniece of poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Having made his acting debut in 1992 with Parampara, Khan had his first success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi. After going through several years of decline throughout the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point. His work in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004).

Khan subsequently had further mainstream success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Race (2008) and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005), Being Cyrus and Omkara (2006). In 2009, Khan branched out into film production with his company Illuminati Films' first film Love Aaj Kal, which became a box-office success. These accomplishments have established him as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema. He was awarded the Padma Shri civilian award by the Government of India in 2010.

Manju Bhargavi (born 1950) is an actress and dancer, best known for her performance in the Telugu blockbuster film Shankarabharanam (1979).

Manju Bhargavi parents originally hail from Andhra Pradesh but settled in Madras. She was originally named Manjula, but later changed it to Manju Bhargavi.

She was trained as a classical dancer and performed at many dance shows. At one of these shows, filmmaker Prakash Rao saw her and cast her in a dance sequence for the Telugu film Gaalipataalu (1974). It led to dance numbers in hit films Krishnaveni (1974), Soggadu (1975) and Yamagola (1977). She was also seen as a vamp in Nayakudu-Vinayakudu opposite ANR. She was then cast in the film President Peramma where she performed a dance number, and then the film's director K. Vishwanath asked her to submit some photographs where she wasn't wearing any make-up. She complied and he liked the results and cast her in the lead role as an unglamorous dancer in his next film Shankarabharanam (1979), a film that broke box office records and became a landmark in Telugu cinema. Although, she was very satisfied with the film as it gave her fame and respect, she didn't act in many films after that, choosing to concentrate on her dance shows. Her husband is the son of a retired Chief Secretary. His family is also originally from Andhra Pradesh but later settled in Bangalore, which is where she currently lives. She had twin sons with her husband, but one of her sons died of cancer in 2007. She runs a dance school in Bangalore, and because of that and her dance shows, she doesn't have much time to act in films, taking an occasional role when it fits into her busy schedule. In 2008, she made her Kannada film debut in Hodi Maga playing Shivaraj Kumar's mother.