Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been adapted into films, web series, and theatre productions all over the world. Actor turned director Anirban Bhattacharya has taken the charge of presenting his take on this very popular play by Shakespeare.

Titled Mandaar, this adaptation is set in Geilpur.

The trailer launch took place in the presence of the director, and the cast and crew of this series at Gyan Manch. Most of the actors in the series have their roots in theatre. And so it was a fitting way to launch the trailer at this theatre auditorium.

Pratik Dutta is the co-writer of the series. Soumik Haldar is the cinematographer while Subhadeep Guha has composed the music for Mandaar.

The cast of this series consists of Sohini Sarkar as Laili (Lady Macbeth), Debasish Mondal as Mandaar (Macbeth), Debesh Roy Chowdhury as Dablu Bhai (King Duncan), Anirban Bhattacharya as Muqaddar Mukherjee, Sankar Debnath as Bonka (Banquo), Lokenath Dey as Modon (Macduff), Diganta as Moncha (Malcolm) and Korak Samanta as Fontus (Fleance) and others.

The three witches will be played by Sajal Mondal, Sudeep Dhara, and a cat called Kala.

Speaking at the trailer launch event, Anirban Bhattacharya said “Macbeth has been adapted many times all over the world. Even in India, many directors have come up with their version of Macbeth. For me, Maqbool is the one that I like the most. This play has many elements that one will like to show to the audience. Meanwhile, the director will also like to show new sides of this play. I have added some characters and still kept the main storyline intact. Let’s see how the audience likes our adaptation”.

Sohini Sarkar who had worked in several web series and films with Anirban was full of praises for his co-actor cum director. She said “It was a pleasure working with Anirban. However, I was scared that he might scold me if I did not do the part right. However, he was very soft and told us if he wanted something to be changed in a scene. He used to praise us all and took ample care of us. The fact that he is an actor might have made helped him in this aspect”.

The actress also mentioned that they all spent a good amount of time getting their dialect right. Ujaan went to the area beforehand and sent then the dialect. The whole team used to prepare the lines and even sent them to Anirban who used to correct them if necessary. In this way, everyone was prepared when they went to the sets for the shot.

Debasish Mondal who will be seen in the role of Mandaar was very excited about having got such a role. He has tried to portray Anirban’s interpretation in the best way possible for Mandaar.

Mandaar is Hoichoi’s first world classic.

Mandaar will begin streaming from 19^th November on Hoichoi.

Priyanka Dutta