5 Bengali Screen Adaptations of Shakespeare's Plays

Bengali films have given some of the finest works in Indian Cinema throughout the ages. Bengal has been gifted with noted filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Budhadeb Dasgupta. In recent times, the legacy has been continued by contemporaries like Rituporno Ghosh, Srijit Mukherjee, and Anjan Dutt, amongst others. It is surprising that there are very few works of Shakespeare that have been adapted on screen in Bengal. I am thankful to have watched almost all the very few that have made their way to the Bengali audience. Here is the list:

1. Bhranti Bilas: This is the first Bengali screen adaptation of one of Shakespeare's comedies, "The Comedy of Errors". It had Bengali legendary actor Uttam Kumar and noted yesteryear comedian Bhanu Bandopadhyay in double roles. The screenplay of this 1963 film has been beautifully synchronized, keeping in mind the mindset of the audience in that era. The bits and pieces of all the characters that were shown have been presented in a very likeable way. The lead cast was phenomenal in portraying their respective parts. The female leads, including Sabitri Chattopadhyay and Sandhya Roy, were so lovable, especially Chattopadhyay, with her ott performance of the always worried and angry wife. Directed by Manu Sen, this film is actually taken from Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's story Bhranti Bilas, which is based on Shakespeare's masterpiece. 

2. Hrid Majharey: This 2014 lesser-known movie, directed by Ranjan Ghosh, was the screen adaptation of Othello. Abir Chatterjee, as Abhijit, a mathematician, is very likeable, and Raima Sen's portrayal of Debjani as the flawlessly beautiful damsel in distress is fabulous in some parts. You feel bad about her haplessness, tormented by a delusional husband who wants to escape a prophecy but ultimately fulfils it through his fear.  I don't know why this film is not talked about much, but I found it to be a very interesting and innovative approach to Shakespeare's classic.

3. Zulfiqar: Julius Caesar came to the Bengali screen in 2016 as Zulfiqar. Srijit Mukherjee's multi-starrer film had Prasenjit Chatterji in the lead role, with other stars like Dev, Jisshu Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee, Kaushik Sen, Rahul Banerjee and Ankush in important roles. I have liked Mukherjee's other films, and truly speaking, this one, although being overhyped, remains my least favourite. The cast was strong, and they were good, too, but this becomes the classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. This may have happened as Srijit wanted to create a single story out of 2 Shakespeare's plays, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. However, if one likes his other notable works and is keen to watch this unique concept, it is a decent watch. 

4. Hemanta: This 2016 film was another work that remained quite unnoticed. Veteran filmmaker Anjan Dutt's screen adaptation of Hamlet had Parambrata Chatterjee in the lead role. The film is the director's liberal approach to the subject of Hamlet. It is an adaptation many may not quite connect to, but what stood out amongst the odds is the powerful performances of Parambrata (Hemanta/Hamlet) and Jisshu Sengupta (Hirak/Horatio). The slow-building chemistry between both the characters was shown with much finesse by the veteran filmmaker, whose earlier works like the Byomkesh franchise had also played around this approach of story-telling. Not everyone has liked this film, but I quite enjoyed it.

5. Mandaar: This 2021 web series was actor Anirban Bhattachrya's debut as a director. And just like the actor Anirban, director Anirban did not disappoint the audience. This screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth had Debashis Mondal and Sohini Sarkar as Mandar (Macbeth) and Laili (Lady Macbeth), respectively. In my opinion, this is the best adaptation of Shakespeare's work on the Bengali screen so far. Starting from the rural feudal setup to the choice of cast for each and every character, no matter how small it is, the director has shown his immense talent in every minute detail, while making the series. Even in the role of the corrupt cop, Bhattacharya is simply brilliant. Kudos to the visual effects too as every time the witch appears, bringing in some omen, the natural visual changes. You can see some very good camera work and makeup, which is quite novel in a Bengali web series. Mandaar is the finest example of Bengal still making a good series. (another was Chotolok, which I will talk about later)