10 Bollywood adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays: From Omkara to Ram-Leela
William Shakespeare is still regarded as the greatest writer in the English language whose works have been adapted by directors to create films based on Shakespeare’s plays. The playwright and dramatist has written some of the most referenced plays like Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar that are still studied and reinterpreted.
Indian filmmakers have also been greatly inspired by his plays and have produced several adaptations in the form of Bollywood films based on Shakespeare’s plays.
Take a look at the 10 best movies based on Shakespeare’s plays:
1. Maqbool
- Cast: Irrfan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Piyush Mishra, Murali Sharma, Masumeh Makhija
- Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
- IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
- Movie Genre: Crime/Drama
- Release year: 2004
- Where to watch: Prime Video
The events and characters of Maqbool are inspired by Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. This was the first installment of director Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare trilogy. While it didn’t make money as expected, the film premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Moreover, Pankaj Kapur also won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the crime drama film.