Vishal Bhardwaj‘s classic creation ‘Maqbool‘ has completed two decades since its release. This 2004 crime drama is the first film in his Shakespeare trilogy. As an adaptation of Macbeth, the movie featured Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, and Piyush Mishra in leading roles. But in a recent revelation, Vishal shared that the late actor Irrfan Khan was not the first choice for this film.
In a recent interview, Vishal revealed that he had almost signed the film with Tamil star Kamal Haasan but it didn’t happen. In a chat with Unfiltered by Samdish last year, Vishal opened up that he wanted to work with the genius man, Kamal Haasan, and their talks had reached quite far in terms of him playing Maqbool. But there was a conflict in the way the duo wanted this film to be. Kamal Haasan wanted this to be bilingual, in Hindi and Tamil, and this would have other stars in it; it should be filmed simultaneously. “I thought I was falling into the trap of business here, and back then I used to be very stubborn. I wanted my film to be made my way,” Vishal emphasized.
In a recent interview, Vishal revealed that he had almost signed the film with Tamil star Kamal Haasan but it didn’t happen. In a chat with Unfiltered by Samdish last year, Vishal opened up that he wanted to work with the genius man, Kamal Haasan, and their talks had reached quite far in terms of him playing Maqbool. But there was a conflict in the way the duo wanted this film to be. Kamal Haasan wanted this to be bilingual, in Hindi and Tamil, and this would have other stars in it; it should be filmed simultaneously. “I thought I was falling into the trap of business here, and back then I used to be very stubborn. I wanted my film to be made my way,” Vishal emphasized.
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At the same time, Vishal addressed the rumors about Naseeruddin Shah refusing to work in ‘Maqbool’ with Kamal Haasan. Vishal shared ‘Naseeruddin Shah didn’t say it like that. Maybe, but he said, ‘Tum soch lo kya karna hai’ (you think what we should do)’. Naseeruddin had worked with Kamal previously. Vishal mentioned Kamal as a very strong personality and an actor who is very clear about what he wants.
In this trilogy, Vishal Bhardwaj took Shakespeare’s Othello and Hamlet as ‘Omkara’ and ‘Haider,’ respectively, in 2006 and 2014.
