The creative team behind ISSAQ, an upcoming film was at Welingkar Institute of Management, Research and Development(WeSchool) recently to interact with the students of Post Graduate Program In Media And Entertainment. the lead actor Prateik Babbar, writer Padmaja Thakur Tiwary and director Manish Tiwary discussed the nuances of film making at the event that was organised and managed by the students of the Media and Entertainment course at WeSchool.
Originally set in Verona, ISSAQ is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s famed tragedy; Romeo and Juliet. The plot has a backdrop of Varanasi, the Hindu heartland and is set on the banks of the Ganges. The film speaks of love which is easy to begin but impossible to end. The film promo and title track was applauded by the students.
The event commenced with Prateik Babbar interacting with the students followed by a thought provoking session with Director ,Manish Tiwary and Padmaja Thakur Tiwary, the writer. The director gave the students an insight into the art of film making and intricacies of stages of direction. He interacted with the students and shared the finer details of the film and the relevance of Varanasi as the backdrop for the film.
“Maintaining the integrity of the original work whilst adapting it to the Indian version was a challenge. The story of the lovelorn Romeo and Juliet can’t be made into a film in Europe anymore because the feudal system is long gone but here in Varanasi we can see points of connection like the social order, the warring families, architectural grandeur and religious undercurrents. The havelis on the Ghats of the Ganga, local gangs and religious manifesto have been the key elements revolving around my characters and the dramatic content of the story” explained Tiwary.
Padmaja Thakur Tiwary, Head-Department of English, Delhi University spoke about the challenges she faced 
while translating and adapting the original work into Hindi to gel with the Indian milleau. ” It is always difficult to adapt stories from one culture to another. And here, we were dealing with Shakespeare whose ideas are like spirals that keep growing. Romeo and Juliet is one of his most famous works, adapted in many forms and different languages across centuries, so we had to proceed with caution. He wrote it as a play in the form of a verse so to adapt it for the big screen in a different language, form was a task .A great deal of research combined with a constant effort to do a reality check in elements like power, money,violence contributed to the script” said Padmaja while sharing her efforts in adapting the play for the film.
Post the event there was a photo op with the ISSAQ team and they distributed the audio CDs as giveaways much to the delight of students. Captain Kanade, GM-Admn felicitated the Director-writer couple with mementos.
ISSAQ, presented by Pen India Private Ltd., releases on 26 July 2103
– Nirmiti Khanvlkar ,Post Graduate Program In Media And Entertainment.
