Literary work over the decades has been fodder for cinema. Shakespeare’s plays in particular have found itself being retold in various formats. From 2006 ‘Romeo and Juliet’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes to Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Haider’ starring Shahid Kapoor and Tabu. Here is a list of regional movies which are based on the Bard’s works.
Hrid Majharey
Inspired by ‘Othello’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Julius Caesar’
The 2014 Bengali film by Ranjan Ghosh follows Abhijit (Abir Mukherjee), a math professor, who meets Debjani (Raima Sen), a cardiologist. A soothsayer at a restaurant makes ominous prophecies while an outsider creates jealousy in Abhijit’s mind. Love and jealousy, faith and delusion, destiny and free will all come together to create a thrilling watch.
Joji
Inspired by ‘Macbeth’
The 2021 Malayalam movie by Dileesh Pothan sees Fahadh Faasil playing the titular character of Joji. Set in contemporary times, the movie is a tragic saga based on Macbeth. A story of greed and ambition, it follows a family that owns a plantation in Kerala. Set during Covid times, the movie is about Joji, an engineering dropout who lives with his iron-fisted father and two older brothers. His father falls unwell and Joji takes the opportunity to fulfil his dream of getting a hold of his share of the family property.
Nanjundi Kalyana
Inspired by ‘The Taming of the Shrew’
Starring Raghavendra Rajkumar and Malashree, MS Rajashekar directorial is a direct adaptation of the play. The film follows Raghuchandra (Raghavendra Rajkumar), who moves to the city to live with his estranged aunt by pretending to be Nanjundi, his uncle who had died 20 years earlier. Here, he meets Devi (Malashri), an arrogant girl. He marries her and takes her back to the village, and ‘tames’ her.
Kaliyattam
Inspired by ‘Othello’
‘Kaliyattam’ was one of those very first Indian movies that had been adapted from Shakespeare’s Othello. The film saw Suresh Gopi as Kannan Perumalayan (Othello), Lal as Paniyan (Iago) and Manju Warrier as Thamara (Desdemona).
The movie follows the plotline quite closely. Kannan, a Theyyam artist, loves Thamara, but is manipulated by Paniyan into thinking that she is having an affair with Kanthan, sending him down a path of death and tragedy.
Gunasundari Katha
Inspired by King Lear
‘Gunasundari Katha’ is a 1949 Telugu film that tells the story of King Ugrasena (Govindarajula Subba Rao) who is angry that his third daughter, Gunasundari (Sriranjani), does not claim to love him as he expects her to.
The film was directed by Kadiri Venkata Reddy and written by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao, Pingali Narendra Rao and Kadiri Venkata Reddy.