Shakespeare in India
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Tis Fair Play – Shakespeare in India
Vishal Bharadwaj’s Omkara is an important film. It did many things, right. One of them being: Omkara plonked Shakespeare and Othello right into the mindscape of mainstream Indian cinema.
Curiously enough, in 1996, Sadanam Balakrishnan’s adapted Othello. It was staged by artistes from the International Centre for Kathakali, New Delhi. The dramatisation did not deviate from the traditional grammar; the padams were in manipravalam and the musical style, sopanam. The play had larger-than-life representation in Kathakali – enacted in front of the flickering flames of a brass lamp – captured the strong passions of the characters.
Bharadwaj achieves similar grand emotions by locating his tour de force in the cow belt of Uttar Pradesh.
But enough has been spoken about Omkara. The point is, prior to Omkara, Indian cinema has had an on-off affair with The Bard.
From Sohrab Modi’s 17-song interpretation of Hamlet in Khoon Ka Khoon in 1935 to Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Comedy of Errors have been adapted for Bollywood audiences.
“Hamlet was Kishore Sahu’s dream project. But it was a big flop,” recalls Mala Sinha, who played the film’s 18-year-old Ophelia. Romeo Juliet, also flopped. It was directed by actress Nargis’ brother, Akhtar Hussein.
Do Dooni Chaar, based on Comedy of Errors, flopped. The producer of film, Bimal Roy had a bout of cancer during the shooting. Therefore supervision was outsourced to United Producers. “Consequently, the film lacked spontaneity,” recalls Gulzar who penned the dialogues and screenplay for the film.
Over a decade later when he told producer Yash Johar about his desire to make another film on the same story, Gulzar received an interesting answer. “People want to remake superhits. Why remake a flop?” But the director-poet persisted with the idea and Angoor was made. It became a landmark film with superb performances from Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma.
Gulzar was tempted to produce a film on Julius Caesar. There are reports that Anant Mahadevan wants to film his version of Comedy of Errors. Meanwhile Vishal Bharadwaj’s Maqbool, bagged its share of critical accliam.
Apart from these Shakespeare adaptations, several other films have been partly inspired by the bard’s works. Film historian Firoze Rangoonwalla recalls that Dilfarosh, a 1930s film, was based on The Merchant of Venice.
Shades of The Tempest can be seen in the 1930s costume drama Aab-e-Hayat. And parts of Aan (Dilip Kumar Nadira), Ziddi (Asha Parekh, Joy Mukherjee), Dharamveer (Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman), Betaab (Sunny, Amrita Singh) are inspired by Taming of the Shrew.
Ashish Rajadhyaksha in the Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema credits Sohrab Modi with bringing “Shakespeare to the Indian screen.”
A Times of India review published on January 10, 1936 said that Modi’s performance in the Hamlet-based Khoon Ka Khoon dominated the film to the extent that “other characters did not matter much.”
Rangoonwalla adds, “Modi told once me the film was shot with two cameras when the play was being staged. It was edited later. It was the first time such an experiment was done.”
Besides the above versions, there have been performances of Hamlet in the North-eastern state of Mizoram; Sadanam Balakrishnan’s Othello in Kathakali; Roysten Abel’s multi-lingual play Othello a Play in Black and White, Jayaraj’s Kaliyattam, a Malayalam film version of Othello, and finally, Arjun Raina’s Magic Hour which plays with A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Merchant Ivory Productions’s film, Shakespearewallah starring the Kendalls and Shashi Kapoor.
So, WHY does everyone who is anyone in the cinema and theatre fraternity, lend their ears to the Bard.
The ANSWER: The Bard is one of us.
Purshottam Nedungadi, scholar-author from Calicut, Kerala (and the Dronacharya of my life) used to say, “Do not be intimidated by Shakespeare. He is one of us. He is basically, a moplah from North Kerala who is called, Sheikh Speare!”
Of course, Nedungadi was joking. The point is, Shakespeare has a longish relationship with India. Right from the moment, he was thrust down, imbibed, worshipped, subverted, and at times, rejected. The Shakespearean presence in India is older and more complex than in any other country outside the West. This can be attributed to India’s long colonial history, the presence of unusually receptive elements, and the absence of original playwrights in the local languages. So the local playwright or theatrewallah borrowed from the Master Bard and, in turn, were reshaped and inseminated by Shakespearean influence.
According to the Indian National Library in Kolkata in 1964, the translations and adaptations in Indian languages are: Bengali (128), Marathi (97), Tamil (83), Hindi (70), Kannada (66) and Telugu (62). I know for certain that Ayyappa Panicker and Kavalam Narayana Panicker have translated into Malayalam, 27 plays of Shakespeare. There are others.
Some of the Shakespearean highlights have been :
Agarkar’s version (adapted) of Hamlet. This was a production in which the great “prose” actor, Ganpatrao Joshi played the role of Hamlet. A young Bal Gandharva (yes, the very same) saw a show in Jalgaon and makes a special mention of Joshi’s reaction to the ghost. Later, Ganpatrao Joshi’s drama company staged “bookish” translations of Othello, Macbeth, and of course Hamlet.
But over and above the “natives”, the British were going about with Project Shakespeare. In 1903, Ms Elisa May and Ms Chloe Player (yes, they are addressed as Ms according to chronicles to give the ladies a certain respectability and distinguish them from the waifs who inhabited the stage) went to Deccan College (Pune) and read out Shakespeare plays in English for Rs 500! Then, in 1872, the students of Vishrambaug High School, staged Julius Caesar in their school courtyard. Later, pupils of Baba Gokhale School staged the Merchant of Venice. Also, students of Rajaram College performed Marathi versions of Romeo & Juliet and Merchant of Venice. This was on the prodding of Principal Prof Candy who awarded a prize of Rs 150. A lot of money for poor students in those days.
There have been innumerable British touring companies which performed Shakespeare. Old timers recall Tempest being staged at the Bandstand. It had Prospero emerging from the sea, and the fairies leaping out of trees. Theatre reviews speak glowingly of a British production of Hamlet at Capitol Cinema which was touring Mumbai around 1947-48. A Marathi critic said he had seen Ganpatrao Joshi’s Hamlet. But that was Ganpatrao Joshi in and as, Hamlet. This was the real thing.
Maharashtra’s Sangeet Nataka parampara was vibrant, but what is unknown is innumerable playwrights were influenced by plays of Shakespeare. For instance, there’s Khadilkar (there’s a street named after him in Girgaum, which is famous for sale of greeting cards and wedding cards). This is Krishnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar. He specialised in developing roles based on Hamlet and Iago. For eg, in Bhaubandaki, we have a hapless Peshwa who murders at the behest of a power hungry uncle & aunt. In Sawai Madhavvracha Mrittyu (Death of Sawai Madhavrao), is directly influenced by Macbeth and Richard II. Then there’s Keechakvadh (an allegory on the tyrannical regime of Viceroy Curzon). This play was banned! Again shades of the plays on Richard and Henry! Interestingly, Khadilkar was a gun-runner in Nepal, and was Tilak’s right hand man. He wrote potent edits in the Kesari.
The classic, Ram Ganesh Gadkari’s Ekach Pyala has a structure based on Othello. Its a tragedy. The husband starts to drink. But instead of jealousy, Gadkari introduces alcohol as a theme. Shakespeare has one community drinking scene, in its place Gadkari brings on stage, an entire gang of drunkards. And so, Taliram = Iago. Like Iago, it is Taliram who stuffs Othello with the spirits. And so on. Gadkari’s rendition has theatre craft! The legendary singer-actor, Bal Gandharva played the wife, at the grinding wheel, in the original production.
Vijay Tendulkar speaks very highly of Baburao Pendharkar in Jhunjarao (Othello). Curiously enough, P L Deshpande was playing the organ for the show. Organised by Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh at the open air grounds of Marine Lines.
There are other versions: Vasant Kanetkar has done a khichdi version which incoporates 4 to 5 Shakespeare plays into one. And then there’s the Dalit playwright, Premanand Gajvi, who penned a play which was about a new play by Shakespeare (yes, the 39th play).
Speaking of Midsummer’s Night, there’s the ever popular version by Ratnakar Matkari which stars, Prashant Damle, the man who has completed 7777 shows. There’s also the all time favourite, Natsamrat. Penned by Vi Va Shirwadkar, this play was an adaptation of King Lear. In Natasamrat, the basic plot is more or less the same, but Shirwadkar has taken the liberty of incorporating soliloquies from other Shakespearean plays. Then there’s Raja Lear which has been brilliantly translated by the poet, Vinda Nabar and superbly performed by Sharad Bhutadia and his troupe from Kolhapur.
Arun Naik, translator narrates an interesting tale. There was an “illegal” Konkani production of Othello, based on Naik’s Marathi translation. Due to a typo in the script, there was one critical 10 minute scene in which Othello and Desdemona’s lines got inter-changed. The group had done many shows. And no one realised it.
That’s the magic of Shakespeare. His plots are like the stories from the Ramayana or Mahabharata. The minor glitches and goof ups, don’t seem to matter.
This magic of Shakespeare was something the Parsee Theatre had realised. The Parsee theatre manager, whose contribution to our theatre has been their remarkable sense of management and resources, set up a network of theatrical companies across India. They performed the plays in Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati – even, briefly, in English.
The playwrights (the backbone of any theatre movement inspite of what actors and producers may say) were: Ahsan Lucknowi, Radheshyam Kathavachak, Aga Hashr Kashmiri (who founded the Indian Shakespeare Theatrical Company, and liked to be called ‘the Indian Shakespeare’), Narayan Prasad Betab (who ran a magazine called Shakespeare to publish his versions), Shrikrishna Hasrab, Mahi Hasan and Tulsidas Saida.
The important plays were:
K Khusro Kabrazi, who founded the Parsee Nataka Mandali in 1853, presented Rustom and Sohrab in Grant Road Theatre (only one theatre in those days in Mumbai). On 29th October 1853. So that’s the unofficial theatre day for Mumbaikars.
On 21st December, 1867, they staged Comedy of Errors. This was a big event. The huge success of the play led to the formation of Victoria Theatre Company. This was backed by the richest patrons – who owed allegiance to Queen Victoria in a distant land and hence the name.
Right opposite the Victoria (in Grant Road), the very wealthy, Cooverji Nazar leased the Grand Road heatre building and set up the Elphinstone Dramatic Club. The Elphinstone Dramatic Club. produced two Shakespeare plays: Cymbeline translated by Nasraonji Khan as Alamgir. And then, King Lear as Bagobahar. Once again, the translator was, Nasraonji Khan.
Then there’s Amit Keshav Nayak (not Naik). After the split of Alfred Theatre in 1881, he started the Khatau-Alfred theatre with Cavasji Khatau. Nayak was an actor-manager. who studied in a Gujarati school but was proficient in Urdu. The first play the group did was Khoon-E-Nahak (based on Hamlet) written by Ahsaan Lucknowi. The roles: Hamlet = Cooverji and Hamlet’s mother = Nayak. Later, Agha Hashra Kashmiri penned plays for the duo. He penned Bajmephaani (inspired from Romeo & Juliet). and so on. Hashra wrote four more plays.
There are many more.
The main thing is, the Bard lives because his plays are the thing! As Vijay Tendulkar says “Life is poorer without Shakespeare and we should meet him at a stage when we are ready for him.”
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Wow !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^^:)^
And I thought Indian cinema had not paid due respect to the Bard. Wonderful to note so many adaptations of the Bard.
Fantastic post Ramu …. I’m speechless
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Speechless! And shocked as well. Such in-depth research about cinema!? Since when sirji?:d
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A brilliant and insightful post. Am learning a great deal through these posts.
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It’s amazing to note the influence of Shakespeare so far back in time… and the extent to which people in India went to adapt his plays… Thanks for this highly informative article which may be one of the first I’ve read that records the Bards relationship with India.
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Great post !!!
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hats off sir for such in-depth study of Bard’s works in India…quite a discerning post
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great informative post!
I have always wished to read, study, perform more of Shakespeare, but I guess I will have wait for the right time for that. I have seen Roysten Abel’s Othello a play in black & white(it was a coincidence i saw it the next day of seeing Omkara, though i rated omkara very high the first time, its gone down with 2 more viewings). have also seen arjun raina’a a magic hour and a terrible beauty is born.
its amazing how Shakespeare is manifested in the rich diversity of India. there is no end to how many dimensions have been added and keep getting multiplied every passing day.
you have written a brilliantly exhaustive account of the indian interpretation of The Bard. I shall forward it to all my theatre practising friends here.
we might add here the bard projects of Tim Supple(A midsummer nights dream) and Neeraj Kabi(Hamlet).
I never got to see Alyque Padamsey’s Bard interpretations, but I heard even he did Romeo & Juliet.
on the other hand, I wish we had a similar passion for interpreting Ghalib, Faiz or Manto here…
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Hi guys,
To all of u who loved omkara…OMKARA won five awards in screen awards tonight…vishal for best music,gulzarsaab for lyrics,sunidhi for best singer,best actress kareena kapoor and saif,best actor in a nigative roles…..
cheers.
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B-E-A-utiful
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^:)^^:)^ What a post!!! And I always thought Shakespeare was limited to just few films n few plays. And even after all this, fascination with Bard doesnt seem to end here.
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tushar: many more instances of shakespeare, the post has merely scratched the surface …
1. alyque padamsee is credited with a few. he launched kabir bedi with othello. then during the emergency, he did a critique of madame indira gandhi through julius caeser, by making caeser a power hungry woman.
2. chetan datar’s tamashasque rendition of midsummer night’s dream wherein the actors did a role reversal. that is, men played the woman characters; and vice versa. earlier, vijay kenkre had directed a cute version of midsummer based on rajeev naik’s translation of the classic.
3. innumerable instances of foreign troupes travelling to india and performing shakespeare. in recent times, we had the very techie and gizmoed rendition of measure for measure; and the totally funky, shakespeare in 90 minutes. plus, in the good old days, tempest was performed at the authur bunder bandstand. and the play opened with the actors walking out of the sea; and later the spirits lept off the trees.
and so on and so forth.
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For those of you who may have missed “Angoor” the first time around, WATCH IT NOW! One of the funniest movies of all time – Sanjeev Kumar, Moushumi C, Deven Verma, Aruna Irani and Deepti Naval are all amazing with impeccable comic timing.
Oh, and great article, Ramu
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Thanks for the amazing insights, Ramu.
I remember narrating his interpretion of Caesar when he cae for a workshop here last year. he is an intriguing and entertaining speaker, he kep everyone in splits with his anecdotal recountings of NFD days, and his association with Ebrahim Alkazi.
I have seen the new Measure for Measure by the British troupe, was very impressive in form.
your info abt Tempest being performed at bunder reminded me of the golden age of Indian theatre when the plays of Mohan Rakesh and Girish Karnad were performed in actual locations outdoors, like Tughlaq in Purana Qila, Delhi.
just being curious, are there any ‘real’/on location plays being done currently?
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“Real” on location plays would be:
1. Jaanta Raja with elephants and horses. Periodiocally staged in Mumbai. A must see.
2. A bit of Roysten Abel’s work in Delhi.
3. Amir Raza Hussain’s larger than life extravaganzas about the Legend of Ram (Bandstand) AND Kargil War (Bandra Kurla Complex). In fact – he got a Padma Shree from the BJP Govt for his rendition of the Five Day War.
4. Some of the Ram Leela at Chowpatty or Shivaji Park or Azad Maidan. Especially, when Ram leaps off the stage and bows-and-arrows Ravana. Huge display of fireworks.
5. Any political rally with bhashan baazi. Its wonderful-wonderful theatre. Thackeray (senior and nephew), Sharad Pawar, Chaggan Bhujpal, Ramdas Athavale, the late Pramod Mahajan, Narayan Rane, Gopinath Munde, etc. These guys are better than the best of our screen actors. In terms of Dialogue Delivery. Punch Lines. Histrionics.
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thats great to know!
I believe Roysten shot an entire short film On Othello in Delhi..
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He has? Has he? Best to ask Roysten, face to face?
roystenabel@yahoo.com
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I remember reading a review of it on some website.
I guess mailing him would be great.
Thanks again, Ramu
aaj aap bade active hain PFC PE!
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I am speechless…i need a few minutes to react…WOW is the only word coming out of me right now…
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:o shakespeare’s been this active thru indian history?? must admit.. have always been quite intimidated by his works.. mostly because reading in iambic pentameter was never my thing while in school.. and i just found the dialog bloody heavy.. might just be the ultimate test for an actor though, i would imagine.. maybe i’ll just give in and go to a shakespeare audition…
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Fascinating stuff. I’m looking for a few Indian Shakespeare adaptations:
Hamlet (1954, Kishore Sahu)
Do Dooni Char (1968, Debu Sen, based on The Comedy of Errors)
Romeo (1976, S S Nair, based on Romeo and Juliet)
Hamlet (1989, Sendhil Nathan)
Mr Romeo (1996, K S Ravi, based on Romeo and Juliet)
Kaliyattam (1997, Jayaraaj Rajasekharan Nair, based on Othello)
I know that DVDs of Do Dooni Char and Kaliyattam exist, but I’ve only been able to find them on sites that don’t ship outside India. Can anybody help me get hold of any of these films on VHS or DVD in the UK?
Thanks!
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Kaliyattam is an exceptional film. Everyone talks about Omkara when it comes to Indian adaptations of Othello, and mind you, it is a phenomenal adaptation in my opinion, but Kaliyattam is unfairly ignored. It’s very different in its approach, and masterfully performed by its cast.
I read that Sujoy Ghosh’s (Jhankaar Beats/Home Delivery) next film is an adaptation of Hamlet.
On a complete side note (sorry Ramu) for the Shakespearean Film Buffs, you ain’t seen Shakespeare on film if you ain’t seen the way Kurosawa does it. Watch:
“Kumonosu Jo” (Throne of Blood)- Macbeth
“Ran” (Chaos) – King Lear
“Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru” (The Bad Sleep Well) – Hamlet
All absolutely superb, high tension dramas, full of energy.
Also, King Lear was loosely adapted recently into a 2-part TV series in the UK called Second Generation about a Bangladeshi businessman and his struggle with his family over its division. Om Puri played the lead role and had an impressive cast with Anupam Kher, Roshan Seth, Parminder Nagra etc. Very interesting adaptation into modern day London. Could have been a lot tighter but made for interesting viewing nonetheless.
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Oh, ‘Kaliyattom’ is just awesome, really. Its magnificently adapted to the setting of an ancient temple art-form (Koodiyattom), and features some great acting. Unfortunately Jayaraj hasn’t been very consistent, he’s quite capable of making a movie either absolutely majestic (‘Paithrukam’, ‘Kaliyattom’ for instance), or completely absymal (too many to name).
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I had done a workshop with KING LEAR three years ago. I’m sharing it because the week-long workshop was enlightening and fun; and someone OUT THERE may be keen to use the module.
Hmm.
Over two days, we showed six films based on KING LEAR. These were:
KING LEAR – by Robert Miller
(starring Laurence Olivier)
KING LEAR – by Peter Brook
(starring Paul Scofield)
KING LEAR By KOZINSTEV
KING IS ALIVE
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Very interesting module. It’s amazing how much one needs work on and customize, if I may, a play to be accessible to the audience.
Ramu, I’m interested to hear more about Geoffrey Kendall and his role in spreading Shakespeare in India. I was speaking with a certain well-known Indian actor last year who loves Shakespeare and has himself performed a lot of it, and he spoke to me about Geoffrey Kendall and his undying passion for spreading Shakespeare across the country. Of course I noticed a serious bias in him as he considered Kendall his biggest inspiration, but I’d be interested to know how significant his actual impact was and how prevalant is it in Indian theater today.
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Oh, the Kendalls were HUGE and from what I hear a drama institution in England. So your actor friend is right.
Of course, you and I would never seen the Senior Kendalls perform. Some of us may be lucky to have spotted the second generation: Felicity Kendall and Jennifer Kendall-Kapoor (36 Chowringee Lane).
Jennifer Kendall-Kapoor was the reason I got enamoured by the theatre.
To spot Geoffery Kendall on screen (not stage); do watch a 1965 film called: SHAKESPEAREWALLAH.
The films stars a young Felicity Kendal, Shashi Kapoor and Madhur Jaffrey. The movie’s inspiration lies behind the real-life adventures of Felicity Kendal’s family as a travelling theatre troupe in India during the final days of English colonial rule. They try to uphold British traditions by staging Shakespeare plays, but are unable to compete with the wildly popular Bombay film industry. The film also traces the developing relationship between the young ing
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Thanks Ramu. I have not seen the film but will definitely put it on my Netflix queue. I’ll come back to this post after watching it. I’m sure we’ll have more to talk about.
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oh boy!!!!!!!!!!!!
hv got some real intrinsic overview about BARD.
WOW!!!!!!!!! Amazing insight.
BRAVO…
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OUT OF CONTEXT presents SHAKESPEARE AND SHE.
To be performed in Mumbai in March.
After a successful PREMIERE SHOW @ Museum Theatre. Chennai. 16th February; as part THE HAMARA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE FEST!
Review in The Hindu, Chennai Edition: http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/02/19/stories/2008021950190500.htm
SHAKESPEARE AND SHE
In Mumbai.
Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan.
Kala Ghoda.
Next to Jehangir Art Gallery. Opposite Rhytmn House
13th March (Thursday) – 7 pm
14th March (Friday) – 7 pm
15th March (Saturday) – 8 pm (please note the change of timing)
16th March (Sunday) – 7 pm
(Limited seating. First come. First serve)
SHAKESPEARE AND SHE.
A Play by Ramu Ramanathan.
Cast: Ahlam Khan. Akshata Sawant. Medha. Pooja Asher.
Music: Ahlam Khan. Akshata Sawant.
Production: Samir Lukka. Sudeep Naik
Audio Visual: Arko Provo Mukherjee. Biju Neyyan. Hashim K Basheer. Maitri Dore. Tapan Maharishi.
Puppet: Vinita Gatne.
Producer: Kinnari Vohra.
Special Thanks: IDC, IIT and KRVIA. Raja Mohanty. Kausik Mukhopadhyaya. The Asher Family. The Khan Family. The Vohra Family. And Ranvir Shah.
SHAKESPEARE AND SHE is about the unlikely friendship between two women.
The premise of the play is: 16th Century London is equal to 21st Century Mumbai.
As a result of which, Shakespeare’s characters are roaming through the streets of Mumbai. For example: Shylock in Masjid Bunder. Romeo & Juliet opposite Ruia College. Henry IV hopping off a rickshaw. Cleopatra at Vasai Koli beach. And other lanes and by-lanes in Mumbai..
In SHAKESPEARE AND SHE – four women trudge through paths – unknown.
It is an exploration of Mumbai – through a tiny camera and discovering Shakespeare’s characters (Big, small, historical, irrelevant, tragic, comic). Even as today’s fables, unfold!
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@Ramu saar…this one desrves a separate post…a plugged one again…dont think anyone is complaining…n if possible upload some still pics also…btw,loved ur pic with the HT article on this play…..the taxiwallah pic…
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What to say? All the right adjectives have been used, Mr Ramanathan… this was exhaustive, comprehensive, educative and to a bard buff like me truly thrilling. I stumbled upon your blog while researching Ram Ganesh Gadkari… aah! the rewards of serendipity.
The Kannada poet/litterateur, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, translated the Tempest and the Royal Shakespeare’s Michael Walling in his English production of ‘The Tempest’ in Bangalore,in 1994, produced by Mahesh Dattani, used a whole section of the Kannada translation! The production was hugely adapted to juxtapose the plight of colonialists with the spirit of freedom seekers.
In Maharashtra, Vin Da Karandikar’s translation of Lear has seen a marvelous production by the Kolhapur based pediatrician and actor/director Sharad Bhutadia.
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