Haider - Shakespeared!!!!

And so comes the third adaptation by the Shakespeare movie specialist of India. Creates quite an expectation for a movie or a Shakespeare connoisseur. For the general moviegoer, the trailer was intriguing enough. Constant praise has been showered on Vishal Bharadwaj both for his meticulous adaptation and for his ability to slip just about any mammoth piece of literature  into an Indian veneer. His previous adaptations of Shakespeare's tragedies have been lauded by one and all no bounds. In general too, Shakespeare's works seem to have striking relevance in about any scenario in the world after so many centuries of his passing on. It remains to be seen if his third posthumous partnership with Bharadwaj with Hamlet is as pertinent as his Macbeth or Othello (Maqbool and Omkara). Any guesses what the answer could be?

Meticulous Adaptation

It is Kashmir in place of Denmark and set in the 90s when AFSPA and insurgency in Kashmir began to bare their fangs at each other leaving utter chaos, destruction and discontent in their wake. The discerning viewer would view this with some uncertainty. The impact of the tragedy in Shakespeare's original stands a chance of being blunted by the real life tragic setting that it is in. This is where the screenwriters have to be lauded no bounds. Vishal Bharadwaj and Basharat Peer retain the same narrative mastery that Shakespeare had whilst effortlessly meshing the narrative into one of the most tragic ongoing happenings in India. This time however, Bharadwaj seems to have decided to remain slightly unfaithful to Shakespeare, as a few changes are apparent per se. But this is no cause of complaint. That is in fact where the screenwriter duo set the message they want to convey. As the movie ends, one realises that Shakespeare's play has in fact been used as a leitmotif for the Kashmir situation rather than the other way round. While not compromising on the theatrical necessities of the master playwright (the graveyard sequence being the best example) and even squeezing in some dark humour which actually raises quite a few laughs (the twist to the "to be or not to be" monologue being one). It must have been no mean job adapting Shakespeare's longest play (which took Kenneth Branagh 4 Hours to faithfully adapt) into a paltry 2 Hours and 45 Minutes (Yes that's paltry!!). To top it all is the fact that the first half is essentially only the first 20 minutes (approximately) of the original play and the rest has been packed into the second half where almost 90% of the original plot line unfolds. It could be said that Vishal Bharadwaj has given his best adaptation yet (although not the most faithful one, a post rightfully held by Omkara). His music too is haunting with some of Gulzar Saab's cleverest usage of Urdu adding to it. He has put the Kashmiri Rubab to best use in the score. Camerawork by Pankaj Kumar is perfect. The general dark blue tint adding the perfect visual to the narration. Aarif Sheikh does his slicing and splicing job with the mastery of a darner.

Tour de force ensemble :
Casting has always been 100% apt in all of Vishal Bharadwaj films and he seems to be capable of extracting the best out of just about any actor that comes his way. He continues this streak with Haider. Shahid Kapoor comes out with his best performance yet. His crazed histrionics remain as close to the original Hamlet as possible. He has proved that given a chance, he can shred his chocolate boy wrapping with ease. Would be shocking if he doesn't win big awards for his class act. Shraddha Kapoor is perhaps the perfect Ophelia given the general nature of her previous two roles. Exuding innocence as always, she does her bit well. Tabu is brilliant as ever. Her Gertrude is given a positive twist by Bharadwaj and Peer which she does justice to with her typical exercise of restraint. Kay Kay Menon as the equivalent of Claudius is at his usual antagonistic best. Irrfan Khan whose role is essentially the pivot of the plot line has an effective cameo. Special mention goes to the two actors who did the role of "Salman and Salman". Their comic interludes provide a few dark laughs.

And Finally the point is :
Haider offers a gripping drama experience  and satiates even the most ardent Shakespeare fans complete with its sometimes unabashed theatrics. It is Vishal Bharadwaj and Basharat Peer's wonderful writing that makes it one of the best Shakespeare adaptations ever. Hamlet has had numerous adaptations. This one however is the best modern day adaptation of the play. Even as a viewer who has never seen the play before, one can easily be gripped by the powerful narration, dialogue and highly electric performances by the cast. As for those who have read the play or seen its adaptations, they will agree that the twist that the writer duo give to the play as a show of absolute brilliance. Take a bow Bharadwaj. You have hit the bulls eye yet again with the Spear called Shakespeare.

Rating : 5 on 5