Expert brings Shakespearian Hindi translations to big screen
Dr Anandi Rao, Lecturer in South Asian Studies, provided her expertise in Hindi translations of Shakespeare for the new ‘Hamlet’ film adaptation, released last month.
Starring Riz Ahmed and Timothy Spall, ‘Hamlet’ is a British drama based upon the classic work of William Shakespeare, imagined in the setting of modern-day London.
It was really exciting to put my research on 19th and 20th century Hindi translations of Shakespeare to use in this way.
Dr Rao had the crucial role of working with the producers and screenwriters to translate Shakespearean English into Hindi for some of the film’s key scenes.
Speaking on her work with the film, Dr Rao said:
"It was really exciting to put my research on 19th and 20th century Hindi translations of Shakespeare to use in this way. While working on the translation of the scene into Hindi, I also consulted historic translations of Hamlet in Hindi that are available in the SOAS library.
Two SOAS students, unaware of my involvement in the film, told me how much they enjoyed the film and how they thought of me! When I told them of my involvement, they were pleasantly surprised about the impact research can have on popular culture."
'Hamlet' has already received high praise from prominent outlets including The Guardian, The Financial Times, BFI and many more, following its release this year.
Dr Rao’s research focuses on the intersection of South Asian Studies, gender and sexuality studies, postcolonial studies and translation studies. She is currently working on a short book project titled ‘Hindi Shakespeare in Colonial India’ that looks at how three men who were involved, in varying degrees, in the movements to make Hindi a national language also translated Shakespeare.
