Why did Vishal Bhardwaj avoid supernatural themes in Haider and Maqbool?

Why did Vishal Bhardwaj avoid supernatural themes in Haider and Maqbool? - Woman telling fortune with silver pendant

In Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptations of Hamlet and Macbeth into Haider and Maqbool, why did he completely avoid all the supernatural elements like witches, ghosts, etc? Did he ever explained his choice of skipping them?



Best Answer

The movies were supposed to be modern day adaptations of the Shakespeare's works set in modern Indian environment. Vishal was only interested in the overarching plot and substituted the characters and settings to Indian variants, as described here

Like most trilogies, it is very easy to notice a similarity in the screen-writing pattern in all the 3 movies. We are already familiar with the names of his characters sounding similar to the ones in the play (Gertrude becomes Ghazala, Iago becomes Ishwar ‘Langda’ Tyagi). The supernatural elements get conveniently replaced with their contemporary avatars (King Hamlet’s “ghost”  becomes a man carrying Ghost IDs – aptly named Roohdaar). 




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Why did Vishal Bhardwaj avoid supernatural themes in Haider and Maqbool? - Sad young Indian woman avoiding talking to husband while sitting on sofa
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Why is Haider controversial?

Controversy surfaced around Shahid Kapoor-starrer Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Haider' after a migrant Kashmiri Pandit alleged the movie to be hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by showing the Sun Temple of Kashmir as \u201cDevil's Den\u201d in the popular song 'Bismil'.

Is Haider a true story?

Set amidst the insurgency-hit Kashmir conflicts of 1995 and civilian disappearances, Haider is a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. It is also based on Basharat Peer's memoir Curfewed Night.

How is Haider different from Hamlet?

Hamlet has been portrayed through the Reflection of Christianity, on the other hand, Haider portrays the political mishappen with Islamic reflection.

How is Haider related to Hamlet?

There are the obvious similarities \u2014 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.



Why The Bollywood Shakespeare Trilogy Is Storytelling Perfection | Maqbool | Omkara | Haider




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