Transcreating the Bard: A Case Study of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in Hindi Celluloid

William Shakespeare’s drama has been the staple for many Indian filmmakers who have ‘transcreated’ his plays to suit the Indian regional context and still managed to retain the plot frame, essence and themes of this brilliant Bard. This article will begin with understanding and defining the term ‘transcreation’, a popular term used in inter-semiotic translation studies and then argue to show how the varied adaptations of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in Hindi celluloid are not mere adaptions but rather transcreations by creative minds. The article will offer a case study of a few transcreations of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in Hindi cinema. Bobby (1973), Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), Sanam Teri Kasam (1982), Qayamat se Qayamat Tak (1988), Saudagar (1991), Ishaqzaade (2010), and the most recent Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Goliyon Ki Rasleela’ Ram-Leela (2013). These films will be re-looked from the lens of ‘transcreation’ to assess their adaptability to the Indian region-specific milieu. These Hindi films made over the last five decades will be seen as creative renditions which harmoniously blend music, characters, tragic elements, camera techniques, local metaphors, and rustic locales and culturally amalgamate these myriad elements while still managing to balance the essence of Shakespeare’s source play to appeal to the target audience. The paper will present a literature review of various articles previously published on the topic. It will further discuss how the play allows itself to be transcreated in the regional target space it occupies. The transition from stage to screen will be critiqued to see if justice has been done to the original text. The paper will appreciate the efforts and creativity of filmmakers who ‘transcreate’ to make the sixteenth-century tragedy of ‘star-crossed lovers’, relevant and loved by Hindi film audiences, from the seventies till present times.