Many Macbeths

- Gautam Chintamani

THERE IS A high chance of getting swayed by the hypnotic imagery in Jayaraj’s Veeram, an epic adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Mac-beth. Pitched as a “bold new vision” of Macbeth, Veeram also takes inspiration from the Vadakkan Pattukal, ballads in Malayalam, and merges Shakespeare with the tale of Chandu Chekavar, a warrior in 13th century North Malabar. Simultaneously made in Malayalam, Hindi, and English, Veeram features Kunal Kapoor, the actor best known for Rang De Basanti (2006), in the lead. The alluring imagery and the proocative context aside, a question might plague the viewer’s mind. Does the world need yet another cinematic retelling of the tragedy?

With its period setting, Veeram is more of a “performance” of Macbeth in the spirit of Orson Welles’ 1948 film version or Roman Polanski’s 1971 version, as opposed to Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957), which was more of a reading of the original. Closer home, Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Macbeth, Maqbool (2004) that set the play in present time’s Mumbai underworld is perhaps the first thing that comes to mind the moment either Shakespeare or Macbeth are mentioned. Interestingly, Jayaraj’s version is more faithful to the source and released close on the heels of a similar 2015 English version directed by Justin Kurzel that featured Michael Fassbender as Macbeth and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. At first glance, both garnered much acclaim but while Kurzel’s film failed in spite of positive critical reaction, the jury is still out on Jayaraj’s interpretation.