Shakespeare Adaptations in Bollywood: An Appreciation of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool and Omkara
Keywords:
Adaptation, Bollywood, Shakespeare, Maqbool, Omkara, Macbeth, OthelloAbstract
It is a cliché to talk about the sustained popularity and relevance of William Shakespeare’s works, particularly his plays, in the contemporary times. The omnipotence of the Bard in the domain of performance and media arts is an established fact. However, an interesting facet of the Bard's plays is that these have been constantly re-envisaged and reworked from the time they have been there. The various film adaptations of his plays can be cited as contemporary evidence in support of this aforesaid statement. His plays have been adapted into films across the globe and these adaptations have been done in such a way as to suit the local colour. One such instance is a set of three films, namely Maqbool, Omkara and Haider adapted from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet respectively by the Indian filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj. This paper attempts to explore the points of convergence and divergence between two of Bhardwaj’s films, Maqbool and Omkara, and the original play-texts of Shakespeare, and will also try to show what effects the recasting of several elements by Bhardwaj have on the overall designs of the films.
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