It’s Shakespeare next for Onir

It’s been seven years since he first spoke about making a film on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but it’s only now that National Award-winning director Onir is going to start work on it.
Last year, he had confirmed that he’d be making a movie called Shab, based on the life of a gigolo in Delhi, but it’s his Hamlet adaptation, which is going on floors first this December.
Originally set in South Africa, the movie will now be shot in Lucknow and the UK. Onir and the movie’s writer Bhavani Iyer are already working on the script, and the casting is taking place simultaneously. Apparently, Onir is ready to break the mould of movies he’s getting tagged with, and he’s ready to work on a more commercial project. A studio is already backing the film.
Confirming the news, Onir said he’s quite keen to shoot the movie. He added, “Ever since I screened I Am at IIM Lucknow, I’ve been in love with the city; it’s architecture, food and music are overwhelming, and I want that to be part of this film. There are, of course, people from two very different communities in the film — a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy — but every other factor is played upon in the narrative except religion, which never becomes an issue.”
Onir also added that he's planning to rope in a Pakistani actor for the film, and he is going to Karachi next week to finalise that.