Shakespeare on the Colonial and Contemporary Indian Page, Stage and Screen Politics, Aesthetics, Religion

This wide-ranging book explores the diversity of Shakespeare's presence in India from the 19th century to the present day, covering works that demonstrate the multiplicity and variety of regional and local Shakespeares within India. Addressing examples of translation, theatrical production, cinematic and OTT adaptation, to music and visual culture, it analyzes each work in its specific local, generic and socio-political context. Linking these different works together are the common issues of politics, aesthetics and religion.

The first four chapters of the book deal with colonial India, analyzing prose translations, adaptations, theatrical music and illustrations of prose retellings of Shakespeare's plays. These include Vidyasagar's prose translation of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors; Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel Kapalkundala influenced by Shakespeare's The Tempest; illustrations of prose retellings of Shakespeare's plays and Hindustani music in Hemchandra Bandyopadhyay's adaptation of The Tempest.

The remaining four chapters deal with contemporary India, the staging of Nautanki Shakespeare, Shakespeare on the Manipuri stage, Shakespeare on contemporary film and Shakespeare on OTT. These include Bagro Basant Hai, an adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Piya Behrupiya, an adaptation of Twelfth Night; two Manipuri productions of Macbeth, and Arshinagar (City of Mirrors), a Bengali cinematic adaptation of Romeo and Juliet by Aparna Sen.