‘Omkara’ throwback: When Ajay and Vivek’s prank had Saif running ‘topless’

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Omkara’ is definitely among the finest works, if one has to reminisce movies adapted from Shakespearean plays. The film was an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’ and a part of the trinity that Bhardwaj made, other two being ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Haider’. ‘Omkara’ was a tale of love, ambition and jealousy, set in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh that featured an ensemble cast of Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu, Konkona Sen Sharma and last but not the least Saif Ali Khan. And today, the film has completed a glorious mark of 11 years of its release. On this special occasion, actor Vivek Oberoi got nostalgic and shared an hilarious incident that took place while they were shooting for the film in Allahabad.

The actor revealed that he and his co-star Ajay Devgn had played a prank on Saif Ali Khan that had left the actor running topless in a dhoti. Yes! You heard that right. While giving an interview to a leading daily, the actor recalled about it and said, “For ‘Omkara’, I was like his (Ajay Devgn) assistant when it came to playing pranks. We played one on Saif, and it was hilarious.” [sic] (Also Check: 24 years of Saif Ali Khan: Movies that proved his versatility as an actor)

“When we were shooting for a scene in the Prayag temple in Allahabad, we had heard that a few real bahubalis (UP gangsters) wanted to “kidnap us” and treat us in their style. So we were shooting the scene in the morning, and luckily me and Ajay were done with our portions, and we were ready to leave on the chopper. Saif was yet to shoot his scenes, and we kept on teasing him for that, saying things like ‘ we are going yaar, our shooting is over’ or ‘ hope you have enough security around.’ We had just sat in the chopper, when we later saw Saif bolting towards us after his scene got over. He didn’t change, and he was running topless in a dhoti towards the chopper! It was hilarious,” added the actor. [sic]

Looks like the menacing Langda Tyagi aka Saif was scared enough to run to protect his life.

Must have been a scene to remember.

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.