Hamlet

Hamlet                                         Haider 

William Shakespeare        Vishal Bhardwaj

Denmark (14th&15th C.)   Srinagar(1995)

King Hamlet.                        Hilaal Meer

Ophelia                                  Arshia

Claudius.                               Khurram

Polonius                                Parvaze

Gertrude                               Ghazala

Ghost                                     Roohadaar

Themes: 

Revenge, Women, Corruption, Religion, Politics, Madness. 

Merits and Demerits: 

A universal appeal can be found in Shakespeare's tragedy "HAMLET". The central themes of human mortality, existential angst, the struggle for power, and the complexities of familial relationships resonate with people from various backgrounds and periods. Hamlet's famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be, " encapsulates the universal contemplation of life, death, and the human condition. 

One of the most touching and shocking scenes of the film occurs in the song ‘Jhelam’ during Haider’s search for his father: a blood-soaked boy leaps out of a truck full of stinking, mutilated corpses and dances in jubilation, rejoicing to be alive.

In Haider, the issue of losing one’s identity is highlighted effectively in a scene where a Kashmiri man stands on the threshold of his own house without entering. Roohdaar intervenes: he asks the man to show him his identity card, frisks him as Indian officers usually do, then allows him to cross the doorsill. This man is diagnosed with a pathological condition called ‘New Disease’, which witnesses the level of juridical intervention in people’s lives. This scene describes the tragic comedy. 

The gravedigger scene is important in Hamlet because it both represents comic-relief and tragedy. The Gravediggers relate to time as the ultimate equivocator. Time humbles all men because they end up in the same place. The gravediggers say that whether one is a king or a beggar they end up in the dirt.