Immediately after the release of Anjan Dutt’s film Srijit Mujhkerjee’s Zulfiqar came out in October 2016 and the audience witnessed a combination of Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra [Figure 29]. The first half of the film adapts Julius Caesar, while the latter half adapts the plot of Anthony and Cleopatra and the two halves are skillfully linked instead of mixing them throughout the film. In Zulfiqar, the city of Rome is replaced with the brutal politics of the dock area of Kolkata (Calcutta), the Senate is replaced with Syndicate, which is an organization like Mafioso, operating from the Muslim dock area ok Kolkata. The members of the Syndicate deal in smuggling, illegal real estate, extortion and many other criminal activities. The members are egalitarian in nature, sharing equal status and power and executing any member who begins to gain more popularity. This is what led to Zulfiqar’s (Julius Caesar, played by Prosenjit Chatterjee) death. Kassinath (Cassius) is an illegal promoter who turns the Syndicate against Zulfiqar and conspires to kill him. Bashir khan (Brutus) is a very loyal friend of Zulfiqar who has always stood beside Zulfiqar or Zulfi as he calls him. Just as Cassius provokes Brutus in the play, Kassinath lies to Bashir about Zulfiqar letting in terrorists and thus appeals to Bashir’s patriotic sentiments. Thus, Bashir joins the conspiracy in killing Zulfiqar. In the pretence of a meeting, the members shoot him at the back on by one, and finally Bashir pulls the last trigger which kills Zulfiqar.
- Figure 29: Poster of Zulfiqar
Zulfiqar’s loyal and trusted comrades, Marcus and Tony, along with Laltu (Lepidus), a corrupt policeman of the film, avenge his death along with Zulfiqar’s nephew Akhtar (Octavius, played by Ankush Hazra) [Figure 30]. After the destruction of the Syndicate, Akhtar succeeds to the post which Zulfiqar once enjoyed, but soon he kills off his allies and obliterates any possibility of threat to his new earned position of a dictator. This film is where Srijit Mukherjee has shown his skill in portraying human characters when he dissects Mark Anthony’s character into two parts- one, the romantic and the vandal which is Marcus, and second, the clever financer which is Tony [Figure 31]. Mukherjee clearly distinguishes between the character and personality of Mark Antony, a scheming soldier in Julius Caesar, and a hopeless romantic in Antony and Cleopatra. Both the parts of Mark Antony, Marcus and Tony, are seen to deliver the speech where they show respect to Bashir khan as “honorable man” and also brings justice to Zulfiqar and his services to the community [Figure 32].
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- Figure 30: Marcus, Akhtar and Tony seeking revenge
- Figure 31: The two halves of Mark Antony
- Figure 32: Marcus and Tony delivering eulogy in Zulfiqar’s funeral
One of the masterpieces of Zulfiqar is when Bashir dreams about Zulfiqar in the meeting point of two rivers i.e. Rangit and Teesta [Figure 33]. Rangit river, signifying the deceased Zulfiqar’s state of mind, appears to be a contrast to tempestuous Teesta waters, signifying the conflict Bashir experiences.
- Figure 33: Bashir’s dream
Another very interesting element of the film is the wife of Zulfiqar, Karishma Ahmed (Calpurnia) and his mistress, Rani Talapatra (Cleopatra). The director reasons out Karishma’s (Calpurnia’s) dreams of tigress, and fire rains as effects of drug addiction. The film links her hallucinations with Calpurnia’s dreams [Figure 34] and she fails to stop Zulfiqar to visit the meeting where he is killed. Rani Talapatra is a new twist in the film which is deliberately used to link the two plays. Rani Talapatra is also deeply in love with Marcus, thus appealing to the romantic side of Mark Antony. She portrays her inner struggle, her inability to choose true love over social security. She remains being used by Akhtar as a sexual object which ultimately leads to her suicide.
- Figure 34: Karishma’s dream
The film lacks the flow between the two adaptations and some characters are not explored enough. In fact, the film seems to slow down as most of the primary characters are dead following a climax, and the time Antony and Cleopatra begins the progression becomes agonizingly monotonous and wearisome. The ease with which Prosenjit fits into the role of Zulfiqar or Caesar is quite lacking in Ankush. In spite of some poorly written scenes and lack of inconsistency, some actors like Dev, Parambrata, Jisshu, Koushik and Prosenjit have managed to pull off Zulfiqar as a unique adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays with the backdrop of the minority community in Kolkata.
Conclusion
While going through Stanley Wells’ essay Why Study Shakespeare in Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide, he mentions two things which rouses interest- “his influence on the…global culture” and “the thousand popular films and television sitcoms that make allusions to Shakespeare”. Shakespeare’s theatrical plays, which were at first introduced in English education and staged as a part of political strategy, cannot simply be assessed as colonial imposition. Today, in post independent India, his works are still relevant and are respected and appreciated by Indians. The ability to adapt and easy transculturation in diverse cultural context of his works were the primary reason of such continuing presence even to this day. The bard is able to become “global” and “popular” because of his skillful representation of the human and human emotions which remains timeless. Some critics consider him to be universal, but his universality comes from the ageless and unchanging “human” which made Shakespeare the most read, published, translated, adapted and staged/ screened. (Sen A. , 2019) (Sultana, 2014). Laura (2018) cites Singh while saying “Shakespeare is still “read” because he deals with “human beings, [with] their sentiments and feelings [that] do not change in any real sense,” and, as his plays raise issues and depict clashes of values that are relevant across time, his appeal seems bound to endure (Singh, 1989)”. The Indian films mentioned in the chapter adopt the plots and story lines from the Bard’s plays as well as adapt them to the contemporary political, social and economic circumstances. Saptapadi shows the blossoming of love between two doctors which started with the murder scene of Othello, Bhranti Bilas beautifully indianizes The Comedy of Errors and Srimati Bhayankari represents the The Taming of the Shrew in a commercial Tollywood film. After more than a decade, Shakespeare returned to the Bengali screen with Hridmajhare, adapting Othello to the contemporary modern relationships in the heart of Kolkata, Arshinagar adapted Romeo and Juliet to represent a resolve of communal riots with the death of lovers, Hemanta adapts Hamlet to tell the tale of jealousy and competitiveness of two brothers and Zulfiqar takes on Julius Caesar and Antony Cleopatra to represent the underworld gangster culture of Kolkata Port. His plays still continue to instigate wonder and admiration among all because they can relate to the emotional sways and complexities of life shown in his works. Stanley Wells has justly observed how far is the reach of Shakespeare's influence in global culture till the present date.
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