Proud to find a thesis on my films, says Vishal Bhardwaj
Was in LU to attend viva voce of a student who did research on his film trilogy
LUCKNOW: Renowned film maker Vishal Bhardwaj said here on Saturday that he had never thought his films could be a subject of research and it was a proud moment for him to find a Lucknow University student had written a thesis on his popular film trilogy.
Bhardwaj was in to Lucknow University to attend viva voce of research scholar Surabhi Modi Sahai, who did research on his popular film trilogy based on Shakespeare’s plays: Maqbool (2003, Macbeth), Omkara (2006, Othello) and Haider (2014, Hamlet). Bhardwaj said while making Maqbool he had not thought he would come and attend a thesis on his work.
“I never thought my films could also be a subject for research by a PhD student of the department of English and Modern European Languages of LU. It was a proud moment for me as a director that a research was done on my films. It has made me proud of my own films. So I was here to witness the viva voce,” said Bhardwaj while interacting with the students.
Talking about his film Maqbool, director said, “It took me two years to get a financer for the film. Nobody was willing to finance the project. They all discouraged me, telling me to drop the idea of saying it was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. They feared it would become boring for cine lovers. But I chose not to,” said Bhardwaj, who described lyricist Gulzar as his mentor.
The director tried to strike a connect with students when he said he spent quite some time in Uttar Pradesh and frequented Lucknow since his childhood. “My aunt lived in Daliganj. I know all about Tundey’s kebabs. The culture of this city is unique,” he said amid thunderous applause from students and teachers. Bhardwaj had visited Lucknow University for the shooting of the film Omkara.
“There was a huge gathering of students to watch the star cast of the film. They were so excited that we cancelled the shooting and returned the next day to shoot the film,” he told media persons.
Researcher Surabhi said, “When I qualified the PhD entrance test, I wanted to work on Shakespeare’s adaptations in India. The whole world was celebrating Akira Kurosawa and that’s when I decided to take Maqbool and Omkara to academia. My supervisor Dr Meenakshi Pahwa suggested that I take a semiotic study which was a niche area. So I did a feminist semiotic study of these three films where I studied the role of Nimmo (Lady Macbeth), Dolly (Desdemona), Ghazala and Arshee (Gertrude and Ophelia respectively).”
Surabhi’s topic of research was Shadows in the Mirror: A Select Semiotic Study of Indian Cinematic Representations of Shakespeare’s Plays. Her examiner, Dr Kaintura was also present during the interactive session.
It was a historic moment for nearly a century old Lucknow University when a Bollywood film maker came from Mumbai to attend viva voce of a researcher about his films, said NK Pandey, LU spokesperson, while proposing the vote of thanks.