Shahid in a still from the movie Haider
After entertaining the masses with R...Rajkumar, an out-and-out Bollywood masala film, actor Shahid Kapoor has taken a 180 degree turn to portray an intense character named Haider in Vishal Bhardwaj's film adaption of Shakespeare's classic Hamlet.
The first look of the film, set in the backdrop of turbulent Kashmir, reveals the dark side of Haider, a cold-blooded, at times eccentric, man on a self-destructive mission to avenge his father's death. On his deathbed, Haider's father asked him to kill his lecherous uncle, who cast a spell on his mother. (Also read: Shahid Kapoor: Haider is my toughest film )
Shraddha Kapoor plays Haider's love interest Arshia (Ophelia from Hamlet) and the trailer shows some very intense lovemaking scenes between the two. He later contemplates death and suicide with her, taking us back to the famous line from Hamlet 'To be or not to be...'
Tabu plays Shahid's mother, with whom he seems to share a complex relationship.
The film boasts of a heavyweight cast including Irrfan Khan and Kay Kay Menon.
Vishal will be completing his Shakespeare trilogy with Haider, after Maqbool (Macbeth) and Omkara (Othello).
Shahid and Vishal last paired up together in 2009 for the critically acclaimed film Kaminey.
Haider, set extensively in Kashmir, is slated to be released on October 2.
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