Adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Cinema 'Haider'

October 2014 saw the release of the third of Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies inspired by Shakespeare’s tragedies, Haider. To say that the movie is inspired by Hamlet would not convey the splendour and subtlety of the adaptation. There are the obvious similarities — Haider for Hamlet or Pervez for Polonius and Liyaqat for Laertes. Or the energetic, angsty ‘Bismil’ being the Mouse trap. There is even a grave digger song, Haider meditating on life and death with a skull and the famous ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy as ‘Main rahoon ki main nahin.’

Set in the insurgency-torn Kashmir of 1995, the film tells the story of an idealistic youngster Haider, who returns home from Aligarh Muslim University, to find his father missing and his mother, Ghazala, consorting with his uncle, Khurram, a lawyer with political ambitions. Haider makes two major departures from Shakespeare — both dealing with the women in Hamlet/Haider’s life. By choosing to combine Hamlet’s best friend, Horatio and love Ophelia in Arshia and making her a journalist playing an active role in Haider’s life, Bharadwaj has made her a woman of substance. Eschewing the Nunnery scene however, detracted from the poignancy of Arshia’s suicide even while the unravelling red wool presented a powerful symbol of things falling apart.

The Shakespearean Gertrude always seemed rather vapid. Ghazala on the other hand is a conflicted character. She respects her husband, is attracted to Khurram and worries about her son. She wants to do the right thing by her family. She tells Khurram about her husband operating on a militant not knowing that he is an informer. It is the wrong deed for the right reasons and results in a chain of events that ends in blood and tears. Finally, it is Ghazala who convinces Haider about the futility of revenge.

Two characters that Hamlet junkies would relish and enjoy are the Salmans and Roohdaar. Calling Haider’s childhood buddies Salmans recalls the interchangeable Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The extraordinary conversation Haider has with them where he elaborates on chutzpah is deliciously wicked. Haider’s ruthless slaying of the two when he realises they have betrayed him reveals how far gone he is.

Haider, like the best of Shakespeare, is this

perfect package — a complex thriller, a tender love story, a historical document backed by amazing cinematography, music acting and writing. Watching any of the many adaptations of Hamlet or reading the loaded lines confirms that increase of appetite grows by what it is fed on.