Bollywood gets playful

Of late, a number of films in Bollywood have been adapted from plays, two of them (Gandhi My Father and The President is Coming) being English plays.
While Gandhi My Father, adapted from Feroz Abbas Khan���s Mahatma vs Gandhi, was made in Hindi, the latter was made into an English film.
The director of The President is Coming (the play and the film), Kunaal Roy Kapur, says, ���The adaptation can be tricky, as a play is driven by characters and dialogue.��� Vernacular plays have also lent themselves to screen adaptations.But, while they���ve been successful on stage, their magic has dissipated on screen. Paresh Rawal���s Maharathi, based on a Gujarati play, failed at the Box Office despite having an impressive cast. Even Rituparno Ghosh���s The Last Lear, adapted from the Bengali play Ajker Shahjahan, didn���t fare well.
Two of Vipul Shah���s films, Aankhen and Waqt, which were adapted from Gujarati plays were an exception. Says Vipul, ���Plays give you a script that���s already tested. But, a play is short and usually without any songs or dances. You need a longer narrative, with about six songs for a film.���
Rahul da Cunha, who plans to turn his famous play I���m Not Bajirao, into a film, says, ���Film is an easier medium to work with. Lots of locations are talked about in plays and I can show them in the film. I���ll include songs as well.���
Shakespeare���s influence has also bee felt in B-town with Macbeth and Othello, having been turned into Maqbool and Omkara by director Vishal Bhardwaj. Vishal���s next, Kaminay, is said to be based on Romeo and Juliet.