I may adapt a Shakespearean comedy next: Bhardwaj

Mumbai, April 4 (IANS) Vishal Bhardwaj, who promises to complete a trilogy of Shakespeare films, says lack of story writing talent in Bollywood forces him to visit the great playwright again and again.

"A good story works even if badly shot. It is very difficult to find good stories. I'll make a trilogy of Shakespeare films. I don't know which and when but there will be a trilogy for sure. I may adapt a Shakespearean comedy next. Actually, I decided to go to Shakespeare after watching Gulzar saab's "Angoor", which was an adaptation of 'A Comedy Of Errors," Bhardwaj told IANS.

Critically acclaimed "Maqbool" was Bhardwaj's first screen adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth". Followed by internationally applauded "Omkara", which was inspired by "Othello".

"After 'Maqbool' I wanted to adapt 'Julius Caesar' for producer Bobby Bedi. But then I met Shekhar Kapur and the idea for 'Mantra', starring Preity Zinta, was born. We started working on that project with seven-eight writers for over six months. Later Shekhar and I had differences over the final outcome of the script."

Hence the project was shelved. Another project of Bharadwaj, which couldn't move beyond scripting stage was "Mr. Mehta & Mrs. Singh" with Aamir Khan.

Excerpts:

First "Macbeth", then "Othello"... you seem to be fascinated by William Shakespeare.

After "Maqbool" I wanted to adapt "Julius Caesar" for producer Bobby Bedi. But then I met Shekhar Kapur and the idea for "Mantra", starring Preity Zinta, was born. We started working on that project with seven-eight writers for over six months. Later Shekhar and I had differences over the final outcome of the script.

Then I had this small script called "The Blue Umbrella". Everyone was after me to make it. I shared my problems with Ronnie Screwvala of UTV. He agreed to produce it on condition that UTV get to produce my next film.

Buy one and get one free?

Kind of (laughs). "The Blue Umbrella", which I've completed, is a relatively small project. It's the kind of cinema I believe in, but would never get to make without the backing of a big production house. If I may say so, I'm very proud of my work in "The Blue Umbrella".

The film's protagonists are kids. But the target audience are adults. The main protagonist is a talented girl called Shreya Sharma. She's as good as Shweta Prasad in "Makdee".

Whom would you have cast as Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony?

Sanjay Dutt and Irrfan Khan were in my mind. Actually, my fascination with Shakespeare has to do with the lack of story writing talent in Bollywood. A good story works even if badly shot. It is very difficult to find good stories. My "Makdee" was an original.

The three-act structure for Ruskin Bond's "The Blue Umbrella" is hard to come by in the scripts being written today... So yes, I did go to Shakespeare twice. I'll make a trilogy of Shakespeare films. I don't know which and when. But there will be a trilogy for sure... I may adapt a Shakespearean comedy next. Actually, I decided to go to Shakespeare after watching Gulzar saab's "Angoor", which was an adaptation of "A Comedy Of Errors".

Why was your project "Mr. Mehta & Mrs. Singh" dropped?

It isn't dropped. Aamir Khan was keen to work with me for a long time. I narrated a few stories. He liked "Mr. Mehta and Mrs. Singh" (written by Abhishek Choubey and Robin Bhatt) the best and asked me to work on the script. For seven-eight months we were both excited by the idea. But then we came to a turning point in the narration where we completely disagreed.

I could see his point of view and he could see mine. But we couldn't come to a common ground. He was reacting as an intelligent actor. We agreed to disagree. Please don't make it sound like a war or something. My relationship with Aamir is very precious. We're working together in future for sure. We've promised each other.

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