Shakespeare’s reshaping of the bollywood romance and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak

Though Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was released in 1988, it was only at the turn of the millennium that this landmark film directed by Mansoor Khan came to be seen, by academics and film critics, as a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

- PRADIPTA MUKHERJEE

In the 80s, Shakespeare was taught only in elite schools and Universities in India, and the mainstream mass audience did not see or enjoy the film because it was a Shakespearean adaptation. Much later, academic and film criticism identified how Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT) localised Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet within Indian socio-cultural contexts like family honour (izzat), patriarchal authority, and rural feuds. It was interesting to observe how effortlessly a Shakespearean tragedy resonated with Indian social realities.

QSQT transformed Shakespeare's Renaissance Verona into a North Indian feud-driven community. Mansoor Khan’s film gradually evolved as a cult classic as it announced a fresh take on the Bollywood romance genre. It re-scripted the initial happy ending to a more emotionally poignant, tragic ending. This significantly marked the film’s departure from the traditional happy endings of the popular Bollywood romance genre of its time.