Limping his way across the silver screens in darkened theatres…. Ishwar 'Langda' Tyagi, the villain of Omkara, held everyone in thrall, as he quietly plotted revenge with Machiavellian menace after being sidelined on the local political scene. His very first appearance in the Vishal Bharadwaj adaptation of Shakespeare's tragi-drama, Othello - before bad boy, Tyagi, turned truly evil - was impacting. He stood atop a tiny hill, warning his wannabe bridegroom pal, in tones suffused with gentle humour and sarcasm, to rescue his bride from impending doom...

Sharmila Tagore's baby boy - who turned 36 in August - seems to have suddenly grown up. In a remarkable career move - a brave one at that - actor, Saif Ali Khan, has showcased a completely different side to a talent that is swiftly becoming a director's delight.

If reports are to be believed, the director thought of casting Saif in this pivotal part after he saw his performance in Dil Chahta Hai. A stunned Saif thought Vishal had completely lost his mind. Obviously the Khan did not need much convincing to try out 'something different' and he soon got into the skin of the rural character (yet another first for the 'urbane' hero) - right to the snake ring on his finger that gave the finishing touch to his animalistic look. While assaying the colourful UP dialect, though traces of his Anglicised accent crept in, by and large, he could have done a local Professor Higgins proud…. And shorn of all his normal mannerisms - and what is perhaps his favourite accessory, the guitar - Saif pulled off the makeover with oodles of realism.

His almost schizophrenic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fatal act in the much-acclaimed flick is a pleasant - or should we say, unpleasant - surprise, coming as it does from the sophisticated dude of umpteen films. But you just have to recall the lover-boy-in-waiting of Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta or the darkly despairing hero of Homi Adajania's Being Cyrus to realise that the chote nawab, with the right project under his belt and with film-makers who know how to tap his versatility, turns in a fine act, indeed.