Story by William Shakespeare
SANGEETHA DEVI. K
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From the contemporary to Shakespeare, film-makers are looking at English literary works for inspiration.
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Shakespeare's narration is so powerful and his characters so real; they can be relevant in any era.
Vishal Bharadwaj
WHO ART SO LOVELY FAIR... Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor in `Omkara'.
Over the next one year, when you visit the cinemas, look out for a credit line that thanks William Shakespeare, Ruskin Bond, Jhumpa Lahiri and others for the original storylines. There are critics who argue that film-makers are running out of story ideas and are hence turning to literature, but others feel that literary works armed with good content lend themselves to meaningful cinema. Whatever be your take on this, the films in question will intrigue you.
Slice of life
Mira Nair has finished adapting Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake to the large screen. The film, which will release later this year across the world, stars Karl Penn, Tabu and Irrfan Khan in key roles. We don't know if Mira's Gogol would be as endearing as Jhumpa's, but the author reportedly was pleased with the way the film shaped up. Says actor Irrfan Khan, "Mira has spent most of her time away from India and could relate to the characters in the novel. I was bowled over by her screenplay. It's a slice of life movie that innumerable NRIs would identify with." Talking of adapting literary works, Irrfan adds, "In both Maqbool and The Namesake, what works is clever screenplay. The audience is drawn into the narrative rather than constantly drawing comparisons with the book."
Maqbool, Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of the Bard's Macbeth, was lauded for its screenplay, characterisation and powerful performances by its lead actors. Actress Tabu recalls, "I was tempted to read Macbeth. But I refrained because Vishal's script was extremely powerful. I didn't want to be confused over the portrayal of Lady Macbeth by reading the original. I wanted Nimmo to be true to the script of Maqbool. I would call it one of the truly memorable films I've worked in. The characters intrigued me for a long time."
Maqbool was not the first Hindi film to draw from the works of William Shakespeare. Remember how Angoor replicated A Comedy of Errors? And the Bard's plays continue to hold film-makers in thrall. Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara, which is expected to release by the end of this month, is Bollywood's version of Othello. In between making Maqbool and Omkara, Vishal swiftly shot Chatri Chor, an adaptation of Ruskin Bond's The Blue Umbrella. Chatri Chor has made its rounds at international film festivals and its commercial release is awaited.
Others, too, have been and are toying with the idea of giving a new dimension to the written word. O. Henry's The Gift of The Magi was the trigger point for Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat. And Ram Gopal Varma's ambitious project Nishabd, starring Amitabh Bachchan, is reportedly drawn from Lolita: a rumour that Varma refutes.
Success formula
What makes these adaptations tick? The fact that characters are suitably placed in the Indian context and human emotions are universal. So you empathised with Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai doing a Jim and Della while they give up their most cherished possession for each other; and you struck a chord with the underbelly of mafia and crime in Maqbool. For Omkara, Vishal chose the land he knew like the back of his palm — his home state Uttar Pradesh — for the backdrop. In came actors Ajay Devgan (Othello), Kareena Kapoor (Desdemona), Bipasha Basu (Bianco), Konkona Sen Sharma (Emilia), Viveik Oberoi (Cassio) and finally Saif Ali Khan (Iago) as the venomous Langda Tyagi.
As Vishal's puts it, "Shakespeare's narration is so powerful and his characters so real; they can be relevant in any era. And Othello has the requisites integral to a drama about the sexes — love, passion, jealousy and crime." He gave the finer touches to the characters based on observations made in his early years. Langda Tyagi, for instance, has shades of a UP gangster that Vishal observed in his childhood days.
This might only be the beginning. Brazen up for more such films. Onir, who made My Brother Nikhil, plans to begin work on the Indianised version of Hamlet soon after completing his upcoming film Bas Ek Pal. The casting is still on and Onir feels that Hrithik Roshan and Siddharth fit the bill to play Hamlet.
Successful adaptations.
Angoor, Do Duni Char- William Shakespeare's
A Comedy Of Errors
Ulta Palta (Telugu) - William Shakespeare's
A Comedy Of Errors
Kandukondaen Kandukondaen(Tamil) - Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
Maqbool - Shakespeare's Macbeth
Raincoat- O. Henry's Gift of the Magi
But then.
Bride and Prejudice - Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice
Vanity Fair - William Thackeray's
Vanity Fair
Mistress of Spices - Chitra Divakaruni's
Mistress of Spices
Soon to be released.
Omkara - Shakespeare's Othello
The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake
Chatri Chor - Ruskin Bond's The Blue Umbrella
Untitled film - based on Hamlet
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