The Bard in Bollywood: Shakespearean Adaptation in Post-Independence Hindi Cinema DEFINING THE TERM “BARD”: In his own lifetime, Shakespeare was described as an “upstart crow.” “The Bard of Avon” was not a term he would have known. In his own lifetime, Shakespeare was described as an “upstart crow.” “The Bard of Avon” was not a term he would have known. “Bardolatry” coined by Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw in 1901, to describe the excessive adulation of Shakespeare. From “Bard of Avon” and the Greek “latria” or “worship.” “Bardolatry” coined by Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw in 1901, to describe the excessive adulation of Shakespeare. From “Bard of Avon” and the Greek “latria” or “worship.” “Consider now if they asked us. Will you give up your Indian Empire or your Shakespeare, you English.…Should not we be forced to answer: Indian Empire or no Indian Empire; we cannot do without our Shakespeare. Indian Empire will go, at any rate some day; but this Shakespeare does not go, he lasts forever with us; we cannot give up our Shakespeare”— Thomas Carlyle 1840s. “Consider now if they asked us. Will you give up your Indian Empire or your Shakespeare, you English.…Should not we be forced to answer: Indian Empire or no Indian Empire; we cannot do without our Shakespeare. Indian Empire will go, at any rate some day; but this Shakespeare does not go, he lasts forever with us; we cannot give up our Shakespeare”— Thomas Carlyle 1840s.

The Bard in Bollywood: Shakespearean Adaptation in Post-Independence Hindi Cinema DEFINING THE TERM “BOLLYWOOD”: “A name for the Indian popular film industry, based in Bombay. Origin 1970s. Blend of Bombay and Hollywood.”—OED 2005 “A name for the Indian popular film industry, based in Bombay. Origin 1970s. Blend of Bombay and Hollywood.”—OED 2005 “Bollywood is not just a cinema but a more diffuse cultural conglomeration involving a range of distribution and consumption activities from websites to music cassettes, from cable to radio”—Ashish Rajyadhaksha “Bollywood is not just a cinema but a more diffuse cultural conglomeration involving a range of distribution and consumption activities from websites to music cassettes, from cable to radio”—Ashish Rajyadhaksha A kind of “Epico-Mythico-Tragico- Comico-Super-Sexy-High-Masala-Art”— Salman Rushdie A kind of “Epico-Mythico-Tragico- Comico-Super-Sexy-High-Masala-Art”— Salman Rushdie 1995.

The Bard in Bollywood: Shakespearean Adaptation in Post-Independence Hindi Cinema Dir. James Ivory, 1965 THE POST- INDEPENDENCE PHASE Dir. Gulzar, 1982 THE NATIONALIST PHASE Dir. Vishal Bhardwaj, 2005 THE LOCAL-AS- GLOBAL PHASE