NOT only is Shakespeare's Hamlet being taken to north India, it's being handled by two directors. Vishal Bhardwaj -- whose films Omkara and Maqbool were adaptations of Othello and Macbeth respectively -- and Tigmanshu Dhulia (director of Haasil and Charas), both filmmakers from Uttar Pradesh, are planning to adapt the bard's play and set it in a north Indian city.
While Bhardwaj wants to cast Hrithik Roshan in his movie, Dhulia has already started work. He is training Pravesh Rana, a former model who participated in Bigg Boss 3 to understand the nuances of Shakespearean dramas.
Bhardwaj is awaiting Roshan's confirmations of his dates. Meanwhile, Rana is being tutored by some of the finest Shakespearean theatre actors from Delhi. Rana, understandably, is thrilled. Having waited for three years before getting his first break in a film, he says, "Before I participated in Bigg Boss, I did more than 300 shows as a model.
Then I was advised to do television serials, but I desisted. I waited patiently for the movie break. " Dhulia not only knows that Bhardwaj plans to make Hamlet, he thinks the director should have made it long ago, as part of his Shakespearean trilogy.
"I don't think my plans get affected because of Bhardwaj. In the West, Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh have both made Hamlet (in 1948 and 1996 respectively). So why can't there be two versions in Hindi cinema?"
Who's more tragic?
Rana is to play Hamlet in Dhulia's adaptation, and Roshan most likely to star in Bhardwaj's version