Stages to Screens- Angoor

 

An adaptation is a recreation of a literary story that would suit the time, place and situation of the adapter. "Angoor" is one such effort from the famous writer-director Gulzar. It is based on Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors". The play is full of comic situations derived out of two pairs of identical twins and their mistaken identity. Gulzar has successfully maintained this stream of humour while presenting the story in the form of a film. The objective of this study is to investigate that to what extent Gulzar’s Angoor – a cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” has been indigenized, keeping in view the transcultural audiences.

Necessary changes have been made to make the film more relevant. For example, the very beginning of the original play and another scene have been discarded in the film to suit modern times.

Gulzar has utilized many cultural and literary references as a means of making a local version of the foreign story. 

Some additions such as the hero smoking and bollywood songs give the film a typical Indian colouring. Maintaining the basic story pattern, Gulzar has produced a hilarious comedy in the Indian context.