Hamlet to Haider- A Walk down the Adaptation Road
There was a reason why Shakespeare carved the crown of a
tragic hero atop a King- for, contemporary England witnessed a most bloody and
conspiring game of thrones. For, the fall of this individual tumbles the town.
Precisely as Ghazala (Tabu) presages, “Ghar
nahin, aap poora gaav jalaoge”. Vishal
Bhardwaj’s proclivity for adaptation lay in the transference of not content,
but context- from the territorial tension between Denmark and Norway to the
internal conflict between the militants and the Indian military force, from the
Elizabethan Hamlet to the Indian Haider. He will also not hesitate from
breaking conventional norms by introducing the protagonist through the dialogue
of another character- keeping in line with the Shakespearean signature of
creating on-stage presence of the protagonist while keeping the actor off-stage.
The setting is further deepened through the development of the visual image of
the river Jhelum as a metaphorical tale of loss of and quest for the missing in
militant Kashmir. The well-choreographed montages for the song establish the
protagonist’s angst as representative of an entire state’s collective woes. No
place else is the repercussion of political instability at the top manifested
on the ground realities than in Kashmir. An adaptation of this manner carries a
special magnitude for, Bharadwaj truly succeeds in making Shakespeare both
relevant and timeless.
The Oedipus Complex encompassed in the character and
motivation of Hamlet emerges in nuanced and shrewdly directed shots- when young
Haider (Anshuman Malhotra) creeps between the blanket in his parents’ bed, when
he dabs perfume on his mother’s neck and kisses it, the first dialogue between
adult Haider (Shahid Kapur) and his mother as an accusation of her sexual
betrayal to his father, the endearing term “Jana” used to call the son. The
scene at the center of the flower strewn path showcases a shadow of ambivalence
in the intention of the mother figure- whether she awaits the father’s return
or the father’s corpse.
The repeated shots of the burnt down house is symbolic of
the underlying intention of the play- to deromanticize the idea and concept of
the family, to raise the curtain on the ugly underbelly of desires and
ambitions that betray honest vows and pious bonds. It therefore stands ironical
that Ghazala is shown teaching her class of young, innocent babes the
conventional, textbook definitions of a house- caring, loving, protecting.
The character of Ophelia essayed by Shraddha Kapoor (as
Arshia) was left to be developed at the hands of the script writers completely
since the Bard left her role to the bare margins. Here, she offers her lovelorn
lip to purge Haider of his grief, becomes his woman to mark his manhood and
sexual fantasies, displays fearful naivety in revealing Haider before her
father.
The twin characters of Salman (Sumit Kaul and Rajat
Bhagat) work as effective cast members- ghosts of Rosencratz and Guildenstern- they
bear the appearances of fools innocuously emulating their Bollywood idol Salman
Khan and thereby provide comic relief. Yet, the theme of appearance and reality
is well wielded even in these characters since they are also acting as spies
for Pervez (Lalit Parimoo), Arshia’s father.
Shakespeare’s King Claudius and Bharadwaj’s Khurram (Kay
Kay Menon) and his rise to power juxtaposed with the Bhan performance playing
out the hope for a new Kashmir is deeply ironical. Now, the film reaches the
point of revelation where the well-guarded veils and illusions begin to disintegrate-
the promised political freedom for Kashmir, Ghazala’s warm veneer of trust and
virtue, Haider’s controlled and restrained form of revenge/anger. The close-up
shot of Ghazala with the unmistakable smile of accomplishment is in sharp
contrast to the appearance of the suffering “half widow” of the preceding
scenes. Also significant change to note is that the frame has now replaced the
vulnerable son with the lusty lover.
Irrfan Khan’s special appearance- “Main doctor ki ruh hoon” is very significant since it is an
Allusion and homage to the significant character of the Ghost in the original
play- the message of avenging the man and beckoning mercy for the woman-
similar to the sympathetic attitude of The Ghost towards Gertrude who,
according to him, has a weak constitution. This Ghost in Shakespeare is
constructed in the same vein as the three witches of Macbeth- they are
characters that are deliberately of ambiguous origin and identity. This allows
the creation of the internal conflict in the protagonist’s mind- the dramatic
struggle between good and evil. In the context of Hamlet, it is the suspicious
presence of the Ghost (and the passionate persuasion of Roohdar) that creates
the doubt in the mind of the audience about the hero’s true motivation- revenge
for his father or sexual envy over his mother, external circumstance or
internal vice.
The transformation of the central character is effective for,
here the madness that Hamlet is allegedly affected with is brought to the fore.
Of course, it is the metaphorical madness of betrayal, incestuous
relationships, violence, oppression and political conspiracy. Thus, the
existential question, “To be or not to be?” is echoed alongside the successive
list of constitutional articles and amendments- for in Bharadwaj’s stage, Haider is not the story of individual
angst but a political drama of democratic and diplomatic failure. It questions
the historical position of Kashmir in time and the collective aspirations of
the common man in India and Pakistan.
The Bhan performance led by Haider serves the purpose of
the metanarrative strand in the original Elizabethan script. The authentic
cultural identification mirrors the strength of art as a powerful commentator
on life and reality. Significantly, this role play establishes the lonely,
isolated position of Haider versus the personal and political relationships
around him. For, he is the sole writer and director of this play within a play.
The icy, cold setting of the graveyard and the morbid mood
of the dug graveyards and the lyrical almost soothing invitation to the other
side of life- foreshadows the series of deaths that will ensue in the climax of
the film. The playful, humorous tone with which death is being discussed
captures the vision of the original playwright- the human folly of assuming
life to be grave and worthy. A flickering candle, a fleeting dream, a vision of
dust- that is it, in candid, simple words; the truth of life in a nutshell- the
meaning and purpose of life. The use of silence during the significant death of
Ghazala reduces elements of life to a conundrum of sound and fury!
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