Review: The Influence of Shakespeare on Bollywood

Located on the third floor of the Library of Birmingham, the Everything to Everybody: Your Shakespeare, Your Culture exhibition displays how Shakespeare has explicitly and hiddenly influenced the Indian film industry, Bollywood.

The University of Birmingham’s Everything to Everybody project has collaborated with the UK’s largest and multi-award winning web magazine DESIblitz to specially show how Shakespeare has impacted Bollywood in ways the audience may never have seen before. Everything to Everybody is a project which seeks to reconnect the diversity of Shakespeare’s Memorial Library to Birmingham and its citizens.

Everything to Everybody has collaborated with DESIblitz to specially show how Shakespeare has impacted Bollywood in ways the audience may never have seen before

Shakespeare has always directly and indirectly impacted Indian theatre and later on, in modern times, Bollywood. Shakespeare’s plays were played during the colonial era which shows the impact that Western literature had in South Asia. Colonialism was taking place throughout the presentation of different literature pieces, most notably Shakespeare.

Indi Deol, founder and director of DESIblitz and curator of the Your Shakespeare, Your Culture exhibition, has said “We are delighted to be bringing this exhibition to the Shakespeare Room in the Library of Birmingham as part of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project. This exhibition explores the relationship between Shakespeare and his influence on the Bollywood film industry.

I have lived here all my life and was amazed whilst creating the exhibition that the library has nearly 100 South Asian translations and adaptations that feature in the Shakespeare Memorial Library. I hope people who visit the Library will enjoy the exhibition and that it will help to bring to light the huge contribution that Shakespeare has had on Indian cinema throughout the years.”

Professor Ewan Fernie, project director of Everything to Everybody, said “We’re delighted that partners such as DESIblitz are connecting with and revitalising the collection, which after all belongs to all the people of the city and should therefore reflect all of its people!”

The documentary begins with News & Features Editor, Ravinder Kaur reading an opening scene from the Punjabi version of Othello. This sets the tone for the rest of the documentary perfectly; we see the strong emphasis Shakespeare has on Indian culture which leads to an influx of Shakespearean-inspired films in the Indian film industry.

She remained a steadfast and fierce character throughout the film

The documentary references numerous famous Bollywood films and different people in the industry’s take on what this means in terms of Shakespeare’s influence on Bollywood. One notable film reference was Sanjay Lee Bhansali’s Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013). The film was inspired by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. One thing which stood out to the critics of the documentary was Deepika Padukone’s astonishing performance as Leela, otherwise known as Juliet. She remained a steadfast and fierce character throughout the film rather than the typical damsel in distress that Shakespeare originally made her out to be originally.

Overall, I found the documentary to be an interesting watch. It shows the large impact that early Western literature and playwrights, including Shakespeare himself, has had on the Indian theatre and film industry. It has paved the way for a richer and more diverse modern Bollywood.