Legendary English poet and writer William Shakespeare is finally getting due credit as the inspiration of many Hindi films director Vishal Bharadwaj is ready with "Omkara" - based on "Othello" with the badlands of Uttar Pradesh as background

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Shakespeare gets his due in Bollywood
By Priyanka Khanna, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) Legendary English poet and writer William Shakespeare is finally getting due credit as the inspiration of many Hindi films after decades of no
recognition and blatant plagiarism.

The world famous literary works of the Bard of Avon have for decades inspired Bollywood films but no one credited Shakespeare. In the bid to find a foothold in global
cinema, however, avant grade filmmakers are now going to town declaring their films as inspired by his creations.

Adapting Shakespeare's work to Indian ethos is the latest "in" thing. After critical acclaim for the "Macbeth"-inspired "Maqbool", director Vishal Bharadwaj is ready with
"Omkara" - based on "Othello" with the badlands of Uttar Pradesh as background.

Bollywood-style "Hamlet" and "A Midsummer's Night Dream" are also in the offing. Reports say that in keeping with the other "hot" trend of making sequels, Vishal is keen
on yet another Shakespeare-inspired film to complete his trilogy.

Vishal is quoted as saying: "Shakespeare is the greatest storyteller ever. His stories have layers of spectacular human drama. I think they can be adapted anywhere and in
any language. I can live my whole life on Shakespeare."

A tale of tragic love, "Omkara" is an Indian adaptation of the 17th century classic "Othello" and stars big Bollywood names like Naseeruddin Shah, Ajay Devgan and
Kareena Kapoor among others.

National Award winner Ajay Devgan plays the lead role in "Omkara", of a short-tempered lover, whose jealousy destroys his happiness and love. Though Devgan plays the
role of an outlaw chief, "Omkara" is not an action movie, but rather dwells on the complexity of human relationships.

A national contest was held to decide on the name of the film as the actors felt the film was not centered on one character only. Other names under consideration were
"Isssak", colloquial term for love, and "O Saathi Re".

"We are showing him as the conqueror, as the tormented lover, in various phases and moods, that is what we are showing," said Astha Debo, the choreographer of
"Omkara".

Vishal is not the first to adapt Shakespeare. The prolific writer has been adapted earlier to Bollywood productions. Some Bollywood blockbusters, including "Qayamat Se
Qayamat Tak", were said to be inspired by "Romeo and Juliet". Likewise, Gulzar's acclaimed "Angoor" was based on "The Comedy of Errors".

Some believe even Andrew Lloyd Webber's staggering tribute to Bollywood in "Bombay Dreams" had a strikingly similar story line to the "Montague-Capulet" saga.

As Naseeruddin Shah, who has done Shakespeare on stage many times and has starred in both "Maqbool" and "Omkara", said in an interview: "The roots may look lost but
every big story in the Hindi film industry is from Shakespeare."

The difference now is that the filmmakers are projecting the fact that they were inspired by Shakespeare as the unique selling proposition, going to show the changing taste
of Hindi film viewers.

Saif Ali Khan, who plays the character of Iago in "Omkara", said in an interview: "In at least 50 Bollywood films, the heroine's brother kills the hero and in at least 500 films,
the hero and the heroine are star-crossed mates. It is ironic then that nobody has actually made a legitimate 'Romeo and Juliet'."

The Khan is convinced Shakespeare's fables can be suitably 'Bollywoodised'. "If you see, all his plays are completely targeted towards the front benchers. That's like a
perfect fit for our film industry," he is quoted as saying.

Vishal is not the first filmmaker to have adapted and interpreted Shakespeare on more than one occasion. An analysis claims that what is striking with Shakespearean
content the world over is that almost every director or actor who gets involved with one of his creations keeps going back to the Bard for more.

Hollywood filmmaker Laurence Olivier who was involved in a series of Shakespeare adaptations reached a stage when he could speak Shakespeare's lines as naturally as if
he were actually thinking them. Orson Welles, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Burton and Al Pacino and even Japanese master Akira Kurosawa have a whole lot of Shakespeare
in their repertoire.

Of course, there's more to come. While Vidhu Vinod Chopra's "Eklavya" is rumoured to be an Indian period interpretation of "Hamlet", "My Brother... Nikhil"-maker Onir is
actually adapting "Hamlet" for his next directorial venture. He plans to cast Hrithik Roshan in the title role. As Onir puts it, "Shakespeare's plays explore the human psyche
and thus are not time-bound. You can take the basic story and reinterpret it to your requirements."

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Bollywood's rediscovering Shakespeare comes at a time when it is increasingly banking on literature. To overcome its folly of not patronising or investing in writers, the
industry is trying to keep pace with the changing audience tastes by going the novel way.

It is a trend that started when the Hindi film trade reaped rich dividends from Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's "Devdas". The global acclaim for the adapted version of
Rabindranath Tagore's "Chokher Bali" and the critical thumbs-up to writer Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's "Parineeta-The Married Woman" have reaffirmed their faith in
sourcing from literature.

Big bucks, however, have evaded films adapted from books like "Pinjar", "Maqbool", "Paheli", "Raincoat" and international experiments like "Bride and Prejudice", "Vanity
Fair" and "The Mistress of Spices".

Acknowledging the lack of crowd-pulling ability of films inspired by books, filmmakers are trying to rework scripts as more palatable for the home turf, especially the youth,
without compromising on its international appeal.

The other films to follow are: Pritish Nandy's under-production "Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam" based on Bimal Mitra's book; Gulzar's cinematic adaptation of his own book "Raavi
Paar"; and Munshi Premchand's "Bazaar-e-Husn" being made as "1918 Benares: A Love Story".

After sourcing from William Makepeace Thackeray for "Vanity Fair", Indian-origin Mira Nair is turning to contemporary literature for her next film - "The Namesake". The film
is a cinematic adaptation of Pulitzer-prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri's book by the same name.

On much the same lines, Nikhil Advani is planning a film based on Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women". And Sudhir Mishra is interested in making a screen version of Robin
Sharma's bestseller "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari".

In the past, many filmmakers have made films inspired by books. This includes Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy" based on Bibhutibhushan Bandhopadhyay's books. Recently,
the "Apu Trilogy" was named among 100 best films in the world by Time magazine.

As many as 17 Saratchandra Chattopadhyay novels have been adapted into Hindi and Bengali films. Similarly, Premchand's books "Shatranj Ke Khiladi", "Sadgati",
"Gaban", "Godaan" and "Heera Moti" have been made into films.

The dearth of good scripts coupled with the audiences' raised expectations is the most fundamental reason for the trend to go back to the books.

Speaking to 'G' magazine, Chandraprakash Dwivedi who made "Pinjar" based on Amrita Pritam's novel by the same name, says: "Literature is rich with well-conceived ideas
and plots that are elaborately thought out. Therefore, adapting a novel readily ensures strong content."

He adds that criminalisation of politics, onslaught of multinational companies, and displacement of tribals would be interesting subjects to work on but Bollywood filmmakers
are always in search of a safe, time-tested idea that can be marketed easily.

Adaptations have their supporters. "Classics are adapted because they have an evergreen quality. Through adaptation we are just casting them into another mould and
keeping them alive," writer Saurabh Shukla is quoted as saying.

Entertainment and content-starved viewers couldn't agree more."