Bhardwaj will set Hamlet in Kashmir

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Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has revealed plans to set his next film based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet in strife-torn Kashmir.
The film is in its final stages of scripting and set for release in 2014 to coincide with the 450th birth anniversary celebrations of the world famous English playwright.
“I need a violent, political backdrop for Hamlet. Also, I believe that in the mainstream, we haven’t really made a film about what is happening in Kashmir,” Bhardwaj said here on Friday.
“I hope I am able to achieve that as it is a very difficult subject to handle — Kashmir as well as Hamlet. I have made things difficult for myself but I thought for my trilogy let me at least attempt something bigger than me,” he said about his third and final instalment based on Shakespeare’s tragedies after Maqbool (Macbeth) and Omkara (Othello).
The writer-director and music composer is in London as part of a celebration of his work by the South Asia Cinema Foundation (SACF). A special screening of Omkara at the British Film Institute on Sunday will be followed by a citation honouring him for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Past recipients of the SACF award have included filmmakers like Shyam Benegal and Gulzar.
“In this centenary year as we celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema, Vishal Bhardwaj was an obvious choice for the honour. His films prove that popular Indian cinema can be so deeply rooted in literature,” said SACF director Lalit Mohan Joshi.