Saif Ali Khan was not in favour of the title of his 2006 hit 'Omkara': Did you know?

Released in 2006, Omkara is considered to be one of the major hits of the year, having brought several big names of Bollywood into its cast. Saif Ali Khan had popularly played the role of ‘Langda Tyagi’ in this film, which earned him a strong response from both audience and critics. While a lot has been said about this film, it is a lesser known fact that Saif was not in favour of the title of this movie and had even expressed his objections for the same, according to IMDb.

Why Saif Ali Khan was not in favour of Omkara movie title

Apart from Saif Ali Khan, Omkara movie had starred other prominent actors such as Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Vivek Oberoi and others. All of them had major roles in the plot and shared brief screen time in the film. The reason why Saif had opposed the title of Omkara was the fact that it was taken from Ajay’s character. That would imply that Ajay is the lead of the film, which did not quite sit well with Saif.

At that point, Saif Ali Khan had been a part of hit films like Hum Tum and Salaam Namaste, and the actor had enjoyed strong success from both the movies. Since the title would side-line him and his character which would end up shadowing his then recently gained success, Saif made it a point to oppose its title. However, director Vishal Bharadwaj decided to go ahead with the title and released the film. It gained major popularity among the audience and it is considered to be one of the top acting performances that have been given by Saif Ali Khan till date. 

Omkara movie was adapted from Othello, which is among the most popular plays of William Shakespeare. This film went on to bag a number of prestigious awards after its release, which includes multiple National Awards and FilmFare Awards. One of these awards were won by Saif Ali Khan himself, when he was given Filmfare Best Villain Award the year following its release. His wife Kareena, who also starred in the movie, also won an award for this film. 

• Promo image courtesy: A still from 'Omkara' trailer