From Elsinore to Kashmir: A Case Study of Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean Trilogy
From the 1960s on, more vivid and apt on-screen adaptations of the Bard's plays were produced by famed directors like Tony Richardson's Hamlet (1969), Pete Brook's King Lear (1970), and the globally renowned work of Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971), a gory, beillergent, and excessively violent adaptation of the original play. Whereas Franco Zeffirelli made Romeo and Juliet (1968), a beautifully crafted drama that was perfectly balanced to pay homage to the original play and was a treat to the eyes of the audience. In the 1970s, new experiments were done with Shakespeare's work by adding a few twists and turns to the original plot. During this period, we got to lay our eyes on Celestino Coronado's Hamlet (1976) and Derek Jarman's The Tempest (1979). These adaptations were recreated and were not that similar to the earlier adaptations. More recently, Kenneth Branagh made many Shakespearean adaptations that were globally eulogized. His 1999 novel, Love's Labour's Lost, was rather a dark version of 1989's Henry V. It was greatly appreciated. William Shakespeare acquired permanence because of his majestic plots. This led to many directors making movies based on these plots, which were some of the best movies of their time. The works of the Bard had an aura. One of the reasons Shakespeare was famous even after his demise was because some of the most recognized stage actors performed in front of an audience. The poetic phrases were a bit difficult to perform on stage but with the making of movies on these plays, the actors were able to reflect the true flash of the original plays. Primarily, all the on-screen adaptations of William Shakespeare's work, if presented thoroughly, have the rich essence of the original works.
Indian cinematic adaptations of William Shakespeare's play
As India was once a colony of Great Britain, Shakespeare's work influenced Indian culture in many ways. Shakespeare's play did help the Indian Subcontinent rethink its political agenda. So, William Shakespeare's plays were at first adapted for the stage to help the people of India introduce themselves to British culture and their education and to bequeath Western values to the indigenous people. Even after independence, Shakespeare’s theatrical work has continued to affect Indian culture. Glimpsing at his popularity among the Indian audience, many filmmakers and scholars took a leap and traversed the world of William Shakespeare and his plays, wondering how they could be turned into something, the natives would find entertaining. The Mumbai-based film industry started to work on projects capturing Shakespeare’s plays. With the original plot lines and the essence of Indian culture, the movies were starting to receive praise from audiences. The category Bollywood Shakespeare has in recent years been a field of academic study, principally after the emergence of Vishal Bharadwaj. An illustrious director in the Indian film industry known for his work on Shakespeare's plays, his Bollywood trilogy, reconnoiters the savagery of the rather raw modern-day Indian society through Shakespeare's plot lines. Bhardwaj not only showcases Shakespeare’s play against an Indian backdrop, but while still under the tutelage of the authenticity of the plot, he manages to reinterpret Shakespeare into the Indian world with a whole new landscape and tack.
The first two films of Bhardwaj's Shakespearean trilogy were Maqbool (2004), based on Macbeth, and Omkara (2006), based on Othello. These movies were the classic Shakespearean drama established on the protagonist, who, due to his pride and haughtiness, has a certain downfall in his life that either leads to the hero's death or devastates him. Maqbool was a work of brilliance. The idea that the Bombay underworld has connections to the original Macbeth has enchanted the audience. The plot revolves around the protagonist, who has ties with the underworld and, under the spell of pride and greed, commits terrorizing crimes. Though ruthless, he shows guilt and suffers from self-accusation. We feel pity for the character, his demise was caused by his self-pride. Unlike Maqbool, Omkara was set in a rather small town in Uttar Pradesh, with the protagonist being a half-caste local gangster. The setting of the film displays crimes and a corrupt society. It showcases the original character of the protagonist, who is full of pride, which leads him to commit hellish sins. The third film from this trilogy was Haider (2014), based on Hamlet; to be precise, this movie was the finest of all and cataclysmically beautiful. It was launched against Kashmir in 1995. This movie rejuvenates the undertone of the Bard’s work. The setting is Indianized and recreated. Bhardwaj adds certain shades of texture, and color to the movie, making it worth watching.
The performances in these movies were done with extreme precision. The performances were so apt that, over time, the viewers started seeing the characters in the movies as if they were actual people. Maqbool was a ball of fire, and the main charisma in the movie was put through the characters of Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah. While in the lead role, Irfan Khan did such a wonderful job that when the hero fell, we felt pity for his fate. Omkara was a sublime piece of art. The director was able to bring the characters from Venice to a gangster-driven small town in Uttar Pradesh. Ajay Devgn is astounding as Omkara, and Kareena Kapoor is as always enchanting. Saif Ali acted so well that viewers still hated the character. Haider was brilliant on screen, and Shahid Kapoor reflected the pain and suffering of the original protagonist. Irfan Khan, as always, is outstanding, and Tabu brings depth to the character. Bhardwaj received tons of praise and appreciation for his work. Critics acclaimed him for beautifully altering Shakespearean art. Toiled with cinematic beauty, Maqbool, Omkara, and Haider are pure balladry in stirring. These are the movies that break the stereotype of Bollywood movies and prove that the Indian film industry is a lot more than some over-the-top, cliche movies.
Maqbool: An Adaptation of Macbeth
Shakespearean tragedies have been a ceaseless source of ingenuity for filmmakers across the world. The adaptations vary from one another; some are just pasting the text exactly into a motion picture, while others try to pull a few strings from the original work. Vishal Bhardwaj is reputed to be the latter. In his way, he matches and mixes the original work with some homeland drama. The same experiment was done with the Macbeth-based Indian film Maqbool. It was directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and released in 2004. Maqbool was Bhardwaj's second film as a director. It had a great cast, including Irfan Khan, Pankaj Kapoor, Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, and Piyush Mishra.
The story revolves around the modern-day Bombay underworld rather than an authentic plot based on medieval Scotland. Unlike in Macbeth, the role of the witches is played by two corrupt policemen. But unlike the drama, they are not active fortune tellers but rather focus on manipulating Maqbool and questioning his loyalty to Abbaji. As in the drama, Lady Macbeth supported and encouraged Macbeth to kill Duncan. Nimmi, the mistress of Abbaji, falls in love with Maqbool, motivates him to become the next leader of the gang, and also actually helps him in doing so. As in the original work, Macbeth asks the witches about his disease, and the witches tell him about the jungle's arrival at his palace. Similarly, here, the policemen tell him that the sea's arrival would demolish his reign. As such, prophecy can never work in a flesh and blood world, but ironically, it was through his smuggling through the sea route that the officials came to arrest him. As in the archetypal play, the protagonist and his wife see the ghost of King Duncan in the palace; furthermore, here Maqbool and Nimmi are guilt-ridden and hallucinating blood and dead bodies. A key aspect of the movie is about the relationship between Maqbool and Abbaji and how, from a loyal foreman, Maqbool became a treacherous leader. The movie is precisely detailed; when the killings take place on screen, in the background, Quranic Aayats are chanted. This shows that the killing of people is a sacrifice and that it is necessary for the welfare of the gang.
This movie is all about human desire and all the wrongful deeds that are done by Maqbool to satisfy his lust for supremacy. The movie is a distinguished piece of art. It fuses a classic drama with a corrupt modern society. Vishal Bhardwaj surely did a great job blending the worlds and bringing out a perfect bijou for Indian viewers.
Omkara: An Adaptation of Othello
Shakespeare's Othello has been adapted for the screen several times. There are approximately more than twenty film versions of Shakespeare's Othello. It is well known that Shakespeare's plays have often been parsed and fabricated. After Maqbool was critically commended, Vishal Bhardwaj recrudesced to film Omkara, a film adaptation of Othello. It had a substantial cast, including Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, and Naseeruddin Shah.
Unlike the original play, the protagonist here is a half-caste, showing the relevance of Indian society. Instead of Venice, Omkara is set in a gangster-driven and corrupt town in Uttar Pradesh. In Othello, Desdemona's betrayal is shown by a handkerchief; in Omkara, a cummerbund is used in its place. Langda here is the antagonist of the story, though he is not as evil as Iago in Othello, as his evil deeds are a reason for the tragedy caused to him. In Othello, Iago also wants to destroy his pride in Cassio, but Langda only wants to take revenge against Omkara, and as Kesu is on the path, he suffers the consequences. Unlike in the bona fide, Omkara's choice of Kesu over Langda is unexpected. This scene moves the viewers to sympathize with Langda, whereas Iago's deeds can never justify the situation. In Othello, Cassio is brave and deserving, but in Omkara, Kesu is just more of a charming man than a warrior. It was his charm that made things work in his favor rather than his skills, and Langda was actually a more deserving participant (Pulugurtha, 2009). In Othello, Iago is more of a rival and is always plotting against Othello, but Langda just takes advantage of what's happening. With a few mind games, he just turns the events in his favor. Iago uses Roderigo for his own purposes, but despite Langda's intentions, he and Rajju were friends even before he decided to take revenge. In the end, it is shown in Othello that Iago has no regrets for his wrongdoings and decides not to open his mouth, whereas Langda also vows to keep his mouth shut, but he actually feels regret for his action. We can say that Iago is a true villain, but Langda is more of a person filled with greed and vengeance.
Omkara is a dark movie filled with a vicious and violent backdrop. It had a tragic theme and occasional use of strong language. Omkara is basically a cultural borrowing, and it shows how Shakespearean art is not only colonial but also a cultural icon that the world can nurture.
Haider: An Adaptation of Hamlet
William Shakespeare's Hamlet is among the most popular plays in India. So, as the years passed, this popularity has not only been evident in texts and books but has also been brought up in the plots of conformist films. As Vishal Bhardwaj excels at this task, he completed his Shakespearean trilogy with the third film, Haider, an adaptation of Hamlet. The movie had an opaque cast, including Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Shraddha Kapoor, and a guest appearance by Irfan Khan. Haider, in its own words, is beautifully catastrophic.
In the movie, Bhardwaj flawlessly stirs the original work with the adaptation and brings the dark lanes of Denmark into the dark lanes of Kashmir. This movie also manifests the atrocities and miseries of the Kashmiri people, which are taken upon for the benefit of the national interest. Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Hamlet is set in Kashmir in 1995, at the time of the insurgency and conflicts of AFSPA, or the Armed Special Forces Power Act. Though the movie is set in Kashmir, the primary plot of the movie is based on the Bona fide. In Hamlet, the protagonist was a complex character, but in Haider, he is just a college student and a simple man who wants to take revenge for the injustice done to his family. Hamlet was totally based on family drama, and in Haider, sometimes the politics overshadow the family issues of the protagonist. The character of Ghazala provides such depth to the movie. In Hamlet, Gertrude was rather a colorless character, but Ghazala is filled with mysteries and absolutely steals the show. In Haider, the Oedipus complex was pictured very well, but it resulted in controversy due to Indian culture. In the movie, Bhardwaj did not follow the Shakespearean rule of revenge, as Haider does not kill Khurram at the end but rather leaves him to his own fate. In contrast to the original, Haider is also not sure that it was Khurram who killed his father. The reason for Haider's insanity is also divergent from the play. A similarity is shown between the characters of Ophelia and Arshia in that both their deaths are caused by the insanity of Hamlet and Haider, respectively.
Haider was a piece of beaux-art. It also shows how good a director Vishal Bhardwaj is by keenly converting the royal drama of Denmark into the curfew-stricken streets of Kashmir. It was a bold action taken by Bhardwaj to uncover the miseries of the Kashmiri people through Shakespeare’s Elsinore. Despite all of the criticism, Haider still stands out, tall veiling the commercial Bollywood cliche movies.