The Bard on the Big Screen

(Left to right) Batra, Bahl, Bhardwaj and Khattar; a still from Makdee

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj distinctly remembers the first time he watched Gulzar’s Angoor. He thoroughly enjoyed the film and fell in love with the story. However, it’s only when the closing credits appeared that he realised the movie was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. The film stayed with him and years later Bhardwaj reinterpreted the Bard’s plays in his own work — Maqbool (2003), Omkara (2006) and Haider (2014).

Now, Bhardwaj is part of a project that will mentor emerging talent from India to make a Shakespearean-themed film.

“I’m here today because of the films that I have made based on Shakespeare’s plays,” said Bhardwaj, at the announcement of a collaboration between Cinestaan Film Company and Film London, the two production houses behind the initiative. Vikas Bahl and Ritesh Batra — the other two mentors — were present at the event, along with Cinestaan’s founder-creator Rohit Khattar and Dina Dattani from Film London. “Shakespeare has so much resonance in India. We were very excited when the project was pitched to us,���
said Khattar.