That no story can exist without conflict was best illustrated by the Bard, especially in his celebrated tragedies. Shakespeare’s plays are rooted in the socio-political conflicts of his time, yet his ability to bring out the universal nature of these conflicts makes him relevant for all times. Apart from the innumerable theatrical adaptations the world over, across more than three centuries, film versions have been no less prolific, with even stalwarts such as Polanski and Kurosawa trying their hand at it.
Closer home, it was perhaps at Delhi University’s Hindu College that Vishal Bhardwaj uncovered his affinity for the Bard. A student of literature, he was a founder-member of the dramatics society on campus. His most remarkable achievements so far have been his screen adaptations of three Shakespearean tragedies — Macbeth , Hamlet and Othello . All three works stand out for their near-obsession with the curious relationship between life and death, succession battles and the cruel tussle of capability vs lineage.
Bhardwaj has adapted them into hyper-local mise-en-scènes around India, his films being closer to theatre in structure.
Bhardwaj’s casting and direction play a major role in recreating the aura of these classical works. Desdemona and Ophelia are frail creatures, typical Shakespearean tragic beauties, whose essence is well captured by Kareena Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, respectively, in
Kapoor is upper caste and fair, while Ajay Devgn, playing Othello, is a lower-caste dacoit who brings her to his lair. Immediately there are warnings: “Bahubali, aurat ka dariya charitra ko mat bhoolna … Jo ladki apne baap ko thag sakti hai , woh kisi aur ki sagi kya hogi ” (Bahubali, do not overlook a woman’s fluid character… she who could not stay true to her father, how will she stay true to you)? One of Othello ’s most iconic lines echoes faithfully in Omkara . Dolly Mishra’s decision to leave her father and stay true to her love, tragically, makes Omkara doubt her. While Othello (Omkara) is a victim of his circumstances — a minority outsider staking a claim to power — his tragic flaw proves to be his faithlessness in his beloved, Desdemona (Dolly). Othello (Omkara) has internalised the very racist ideology that he fights against, secretly believing he is never good enough for her.
The regular jibes from his supposed friends and fellow bandits, about how Mishra is a ‘loot’, always play at the back of his mind. Mishra is childlike, vulnerable in her blind faith in Omkara that ultimately leads to her own undoing. Saif Ali Khan’s Iago shines in his villainy with his subtlety. Iago is one of the most hated literary figures in history. Langda Tyagi, Bhardwaj’s Iago, is never above whispering poison into Omkara’s ears.
Suspicion is a tragic trait shared by Othello and Hamlet. In Bhardwaj’s Haider , Shahid Kapoor plays the grieving Hamlet, driven to insanity by his father’s disappearance, the news of his probable death on one hand and his mother’s (played by Tabu) imminent marriage to his uncle (played by Kay Kay Menon) on the other. “ Ya toh aap bahut badi lool hai , ya bahut badi chudail ” (You’re either a fool or a witch). Kapoor doubts his mother’s intentions in marrying his uncle even as they mourn his father. Bhardwaj had never been to Kashmir before, and it was only after reading Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night , a book that relives the violent ’90s in a Kashmir under the much-reviled Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts, that Bhardwaj found the missing link.
Bhardwaj is a great fan of Shakespearean asides — the ‘Dear O’ song in Othello becomes ‘O Saathi Re’ in Omkara , sung by Kareena for Devgn; the Mousetrap scene in Hamlet becomes ‘Bismil’ in Haider . The play-within-a-play, a crucial juncture in the plot, comes alive magnificently in Haider , as larger-than-life puppets dance around in a 1,000-year-old Kashmiri temple. Gulzar’s lyrics transport the Mousetrap scene into Kashmir’s charged valley, as the plot reaches fever-pitch intensity — Haider has been declared mad, and his mother is marrying her husband’s younger brother — “ Hosh me aa jaa , Hosh mein aa jaa , Aye bulbul–e bismil , Aye bulbul-e bismil , Khushboo-e-gul me zehar bhara hai ” (Come to your senses, o wounded nightingale, the fragrant flowers are poisoned).
With Haider , Bhardwaj has experimented more with the supernatural element in Shakespearean tragedies. He believes his films are, at some level, an expression of the subconscious that often goes unacknowledged in everyday life.
Bhardwaj’s genius lies in his approach towards Shakespeare, one that is not burdened by literary history, or awed by the Bard’s celebrated status. He appropriates Shakespeare into his contemporary realm of experience, yet stays true to the soul of the original work. Hamlet and Gertrude may have become Shahid’s Haider and Tabu’s Ghazala, the mourning relatives of the local, respected doctor singled out for treating a political dissenter, yet their chemistry is as intriguing and complex as that of the Danish mother-son duo in the original.
As Gulzar had once described the director’s oeuvre, “Bhardwaj says his works are adaptations of Shakespeare for a marketing gimmick. They are original works in themselves.”