B-town filmmakers, for over 30 years, have adapted Shakespeare in the local context for the public to relate to and the obsession continues. For Pravina Cooper, it works well when Bollywood adds its own pinch of ‘masala’ in it. Riya Sharma reports
If you think that the adaptations of English plays into Bollywood productions are a newly found inception, then you would be surprised to know that the relationship between the two goes back to about 30 years. The first prominent Bollywood movie that was adapted from a Shakespeare play was Angoor, directed by Gulzar and released in 1982. It was a hilarious take on the bard’s Comedy of Errors which has inspired several Indian movies like Do Dooni Char (1968) and Bhrantibilas (1963 Bengali film). So, it can be safely suggested that Vishal Bhardwaj’s popular trilogy of Shakespeare adaptations into Bollywood hits namely Maqbool, Omkara and Haider is certainly not a first.
Bollywood’s fascination with the genius playwright can be observed in comparatively old movies like Qyamat se Qyamat Tak (1988) to the more recent ones — Ram leela, Ishaqzade et al.
Pravina Cooper, a professor of English literature at the California State University and a film critic, in her lecture — Bollywood Does Shakespeare — pointed out the basic differences which lie in most of these adaptations and the original plays. Focussing only on Vishal Bharadwaj and his Shakespearean adaptations, she underlined, "There is nothing wrong with these adaptations, in fact, I think they have done justice to the plays depending on the their set of conventions, political scenario and local setting. But if we look at Shakespeare's plays, they have a lot to offer than the quintessential Bollywood magic".
"In other words, it can be said that B-town follows the basic storyline but changes the other dynamics depending on the political setting, class hierarchies and social discrimination. If for instance, Iago from Othello turns out to be a negative character for us because of the hatred he has for most of the other characters and for the reason that he is on the social periphery whereas "the black moor", Othello gets elevated up the pedestal", says Cooper who feels that Omkara is the best adaptation by Vishal Bharadwaj.
On one hand, we have langda Tyagi (Omkara) who is as villainous as Iago but Tyagi is not so cold-blooded as compared to Iago. For Iago, the use of his ‘rhetoric’ works well and he is responsible for making the situation miserable for everyone around him just to satisfy his own ends. langda, on the other hand, we see, is caught up in the affairs which leave him disappointed and we actually tend to feel sympathetic for him. So, we can say Bollywood picks out the storyline from Shakespeare but tweaks it a bit “with the gangsters, politicians and guns as perpetrators and admirers of corruption”.
In Haider, we see a different setting, that is, Kashmir and its issues. If Hamlet's dilemma is personal, then Haider's problem is more with the way people of Kashmir are being treated and taken advantage of. Shakespeare focused on an individual's dilemma and his misery while Bhardwaj pointed finger at the society for an overall change in the person's behaviour.
In Macbeth, the central character is guilty of killing people but the guilt doesn't stop him from murdering more people. Maqbool, on the other hand, experiences guilt after killing Abba ji( the underworld don) and puts a full stop on his blood-shedding spree. lending an apt imagery and voice to Shakespeare, who is otherwise known as the greatest writer through the ages, and his works should definitely be a major burden. But Indian film-makers have been taking on this challenge with much elan since a while now, quite successfully appealing to the viewers with their tweaked up versions of the original plots. A classic example where East meets West to result in a gem of a collaboration, quite a few gems at that.