Vishal Bhardwaj: Tagore and Ray had qualities of Shakespeare

Vishal Bhardwaj is credited with bringing Indian versions of William Shakespeare's trdies -- "Macbeth", "Ollo" and "Hamlet" -- to screen, and filmmaker believes Rabindranath Tagore's writings and Satyajit Ray's cinema mirrored Bard's work. In session titled 'Masala Shakespeare' at Tata Literature Live! Mumbai LitFest, Bhardwaj was in conversation with Delhi-based scholar, teacher Jonathan Gil Harris and discussion was chaired by Kaveree Bamzai. 

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"For me, Tagore has h all qualities of Shakespeare- be it music, be it poetry and kind of stuff Shakespeare has written. Even Ray to some extent showcases same qualities. It is great that cinema has evolved over years where we were a sexually suppressed society and roses were shown on screen inste of a kiss," Bhardwaj said on Saturday. Talking about Shakespeare's influence on his filmography, filmmaker said today cinema was losing "element of political incorrectness". 

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"I believe Shakespeare has been politically incorrect where he has me fun of Jews in one of plays although he didn't kw that this issue would be so politically charged up in future at that point of time. In recent times, we are losing that element of political incorrectness in cinema. Although, we may have been politically incorrect after 75 years of Independence. For instance, in his writings, Tulsidas has compared women with animals which is again politically incorrect," he ded. 

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Bhardwaj's last Shakespearean aptation was "Haider" (Hamlet). director said he decided to set film in Kashmir Valley, as he was disappointed with way Hindi cinema treated region. "When I was planning to make 'Haider' and working on script, I was very disappointed with Bollywood films which have been based on Kashmir. Before filming of 'Haider', I h always seen Kashmir from outside through a journalist's reports or through stories of people, who have lost ir family members," he said. 

director ded that Basharat Peer's book "Curfewed Night" inspired him to take on project. Peer was co-writer on film along with Bhardwaj. "...That's why I decided to apt 'Hamlet' because I believe Kashmir itself is looking for its existence."

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filmmaker said w that trilogy of Shakespearean trdies was complete, he wants to explore comedies written by playwright. "'Twelfth Knight' is a great structure wherein a woman is falling in love with a woman thinking of her as a man. re is something about script which is over top, re are so many songs written which are very new with a lot of depth.  "So I believe it's a very tight plot. I wish I could shift plot to same-sex relationship but n comedy was lost."