A Shakespearean play written in blood

With Haider, the desi Hamlet, Vi s h a l Bharadwaj will complete his trilogy of Shakespearean tragedies which began over a decade ago with Maqbool. Prod him on why he chose to flag off the journey with Macbeth and he says that it was the first play he read as a filmmaker and admits he took some creative liberties with the original to flag off his career as a director.

The film was set in the Mumbai underworld and Vishal's Lady Macbeth, Nimmi, was the mistress of an aging don Jahangir Khan alias Abbaji (Pankaj Kapur), who coaxes her lover and Abbaji's right hand man, Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) to murder him and take over his empire. However, the blood on their hands and the guilt on their minds keep haunting them for the rest of their lives.

At that point Vishal had no idea what he had jumped into. It was only when he was trying to put together the project, that he realised that Shakespeare wasn't a saleable name in Bollywood circles.

"One financier even advised me not to say anywhere in the credits that the film was inspired by Shakespeare's play because that would make it non-commercial and no one would buy my film," he recalls with a laugh.

The first actor he approached was Tabu. She had become a friend when he was working on the Maachis score for Gulzar, his first film as a composer and a turning point in his career. The bond strengethened during Hu Tu Tu and once he had locked his script, she was the first actor he narrated it to. "Shabanaji's (Tabu's aunt Shabana Azmi) ke ghar mein script sunaya tha," he remembers.

Tabu picks up the memory trail pointing out that even though Maqbool was his first film, Vishal was very clear about what he wanted. And he wanted her to play his Lady Macbeth. "Twelve years ago, Nimmi was an intense and exciting character--something I had never attempted before. So I gave him the nod. He had not spoken to any other actor but was thinking of Naseer bhai (Naseeruddin Shah) for the role of Abbaji," she reveals.

However, by the time Maqbool was ready to roll, Naseer got busy with another film, and the role of Abbaji went to Pankaj Kapur. Naseer and Om Puri played corrupt cops on Abbaji's payroll, modelled after the soothsayers, who not only provided comic relief but also predicted what was to come and propelled the story forward.

Vishal took the title role of Maqbool to every A-list actor and every time he was turned away. Recalls Tabu, "So many names came up for Maqbool. At one point I was told Kay Kay (Menon) was doing the role. Then two-three weeks before shooting was to start, Vishal informed me that it would be Irrfan Khan." Vishal points out that Irrfan was the right age to play the role and it was a big break for him.

The film was shot in Bhopal. Tabu who had shot a couple of films in the city was comfortable in her surrounding. "We were staying in a palatial hotel. Right from Abbaji's haveli, to the ghararas and shararas I was given to wear, everything reminded me of the life I had left behind in Hyderbad," says a nostalgic Tabu.

However, a month of living with the character and being in sync with the intense love story, slowly began to take its toll. "Nobody was happy. Everyone was conflicted, sab ro rahe the, taqleef mein the. I couldn't wait to flee from this dark world of doom and gloom," she reveals.

The film proved to be a turning point in the lives of its actors, in particular Irrfan, Tabu and Pankaj. Pankaj even bagged the Filmfare Best Actor (Critics) Award and the National Award for Best Supporting Actor.

It premiered at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival and bagged immense critical acclaim, making Vishal a filmmaker to watch out for. "But I still had to compromise on my fee. I didn't only direct the film, I also co-wrote the story and screenplay and gave the music. Yet, I was not paid a single rupee for it."