Bollywood Does Shakespeare

One of my abiding notions for Shakespeare Talks! is that of showing his relevance, enjoyment and meaning for audiences of different of cultures.  For example, while in Dubai, I spoke to two Iranian friends about interest in Shakespeare in their community, and apparently there is quite a bit.  In fact, they showed me books they had of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello" in Farsi, their native tongue.

In the diverse milieu of Dubai, Shakespeare Talks! can certainly find its place in the Arabic and Indian communities as well.  I would engage select friends to help me stage interactive plays, that is, ones that engage audiences actively.

It is in this context that I loved reading this article in tabloid! - Bollywood Loves Shakespeare.  Writer David Tusing lists five such films, and I was happy to find them in full-length on YouTube.  I include his text, after each film.

Before he became one of the most influential lyricists in the industry, Gulzar made a few acclaimed films, one of his most memorable being this comedy based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. The film about identical twins separated at birth who meet again as adults, is still considered as one of the best comedies to come out of Bollywood.

A certified classic, this story about two teenagers who fall in love, unaware that their families are bitter enemies (no prizes for guessing which Shakespearean play it was inspired by), had all the makings of a perfect Bollywood blockbuster. And it was. Besides the songs which are still well-loved even today, the film also gave us Aamir Khan, one of the biggest actors in India today.

Bollywood’s version of Macbeth was set in (where else?), Mumbai’s underworld. This film, though not a box office scorcher, brought acclaim not only for music composer-turned-director Vishal Bhardwaj, but also its lead actor Irrfan Khan, who became an A-lister overnight. He’s now India’s biggest Hollywood export.

Having tasted success with Macbeth, director Vishal Bhardwaj went back to another Shakespeare classic, Othello, and assembled an impressive cast including Ajay Devgn in the title role and supported by Saif Ali Khan and Vivek Oberoi. Set against the backdrop of Indian state politics, this one was a hit for Bhardwaj, who is now one of the industry’s busiest directors.

Art house film favourite Rituparno Ghosh, the late Bengali director who died of a heart attack in May this year, gave Indian acting legend Amitabh Bachchan one of his career’s best in this film, inspired by the works of Shakespeare. Based on the life of an aging theatre actor who’s lived his life playing characters in Shakespearean plays and who condemns modern cinema, this critically-acclaimed work was praised for its thought-provoking look at theatre versus cinema and old world charm as it comes crashing against the new world.