Haider is a heartfelt, brave effort: Basharat Peer

dna: The first and obvious question is how did Haider happen?
Peer: Vishal had read Curfewed Night and emailed me last April. We met in Delhi. He spoke about adapting either King Lear or Hamlet to Kashmir. As we talked we both felt Hamlet is better suited to Kashmir. After our meeting I reread the play and a few days later I knew what the adaptation would be like. I called Vishal and he liked the idea and that is how we got started.

dna: How was the experience of adopting one of the greatest tragedies into a milieu which you are so familiar with?
Peer: It was one of the most exciting literary experiences of my life. I had read my Shakespeare and read the commentary on his oeuvre by the great Shakespeare scholars like James Shapiro, Marjorie Garber, Stephan Greenblatt. Yet imagining Hamlet in Kashmir was the most exciting thing I ever did. The greatest pleasure was the moments when you where, in what time period you can set the play in Kashmir, who will be young Hamlet, what his father King Hamlet would be like etc. It felt like I finally understood Hamlet for the first time.

dna: According to you what is the USP of the movie?
Peer: I would like to believe that Haider is a heartfelt, brave effort to do justice to both the pain of Kashmir and to one of the greatest plays by Shakespeare.

dna: Have you seen Bharadwaj's earlier Shakespearean adoptions?
Peer: Yes. I loved Maqbool and Omkara. Haider is different from them as it is a more realistic film that takes on a politically charged subject. I have always written about Kashmir but it was really brave of Vishal Bhardwaj to go along with a story like this. It is the longest, bravest journey any Indian filmmaker has made on Kashmir.

dna: Are you satisfied with the final product? You must have seen rushes at least
Peer: I am delighted to report that I was able to weave in many iconic stories and images from the contemporary history of Kashmir that have never been shown in a Bollywood film.

dna:. Do you think Haider will be able to clear the misconceptions and allay fears of Kashmiris?
Peer: Haider will break your heart. The pain of Kashmir seethes through every scene.