With the recent spike in OTT consumption, Zee5’s Omertà has been reincarnated, thanks to movie buffs.

Hansal Mehta’s unusual biopic is based on the life of dreaded terrorist Omar Sheikh, with Rajkumar Rao playing the lead character. 

From the first minute in, the viewer becomes aware of the grim nature of this movie, thanks to its dark cinematography and sound effects. We also get a cold, unabashed account of the man’s involvement in the 1994 abduction of Western tourists in India, his release from an Indian prison in exchange for hostages in the hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 held in Kandahar, his involvement in the 9/11 attacks and the 2002 beheading of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl for which he was convicted and sentenced to death by a Pakistani court. 

It is basically a series of nerve-chilling events that caused trauma to millions of people, woven together in such a manner that despite the inhumanity attached with it, one cannot look away from the screen. 

Omertà is not just a psychological thriller, in fact the psyche of a man is shown as something beyond the level of comprehension. Mehta highlights how a well-educated, aware, and family-oriented person can be subject to brainwashing and bloodlust. 

Despite the killings and attacks on humanity, the real nerve chilling tragedy is how you are more scared of the person inflicting damage than the damage itself.

Omertà is a tale of a possibility beyond the realm of understanding. And Rajkumar Rao brings out this side of the story extremely well with his exceptional portrayal.

To talk about Omertà, in all its glorious and gory details wouldn’t do justice to this story that relies on actions more than words. 

A must watch for it’s refreshing take, Omertà is innovation at its best.

4/5.