Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; August 16, 2014)

We all know Vishal Bhardwaj's fascination for Shakespeare. He has earlier made Maqbool that was an adaptation of Macbeth and then Omkara, that was his version of Othello. Hamlet is famous for being Shakespeare's toughest play, but it did not deter his ardent fan from adapting it once again into his upcoming film Haider, in which Shahid Kapoor has many different looks, ranging from his long hair to going completely bald.

Telling us about it, Vishal said, “Shahid goes through an emotional journey in the film, where he starts from being a simple student in search of his father, grows his hair long and learns that his father is mad and then almost becomes mad himself to finally taking his revenge. When he came to know that I was adapting Hamlet, he was keen to play the character of Hamlet, who is Haider in our film and within a second I asked him, 'Will you go bald or not?' So that was a prerequisite for the role."

Further talking about what fascinates Vishal about Shakespeare, he said, “He is timeless human drama. His stories may be 400 years old, but yet, the human conflict is the same. Human beings may have progressed, but the inner self is still 400 years old."

We can't agree with Vishal more.