Re-contextualising Shakespeare in cinema a study of selected films of Vishal Bhardwaj

Abstract

This thesis “Re-contextualising Shakespeare in Cinema: A Study of Selected Films of Vishal Bhardwaj” is a study of Vishal Bhardwaj’s trilogy based on the tragedies of Shakespeare. The selected films include Maqbool (2003), Omkara (2006), and Haider (2014), adapted from Shakespeare’s distinguished tragedies Macbeth (1606), Othello (1604), and Hamlet (1599–1601) respectively. The study explores how the adapted texts share the space with Shakespeare when relocated into a new medium with distinct socio-cultural and historical contexts. The study engages the trilogy into three different time frames: syndicate crime of the 90s in Maqbool, contemporary rural crime in Omkara and the mid-90s Kashmir militancy in Haider. The study studies the adapted texts within the framework of established genres, subgenres and conventional representations of Indian cinema. The genre categorisations of the adaptations that navigate the source narratives within the tropes and fixtures of popular Indian cinema form the core of the thesis. The study enquires into the way Shakespeare continues to be the cultural icon of the Indian subcontinent to this day.