Vishal Bhardwaj 'Bonds' with Ruskin

New Delhi: Vishal Bhardwaj gave Shakespeare a rural makeover with 'Omkara' and the director, known for his penchant for dark stories, has again teamed up with Ruskin Bond for his "wicked, dark comedy" 7 Khoon Maaf.

Bond turned scriptwriter for the movie and extended his short story Sussanna's Seven Husbands into a novella at Vishal's insistence.

The director-composer, who previously adapted Bond's Blue Umbrella on bigscreen, says he was intrigued by the title of the four-page story and spotted the germ of a movie and a novel.

"The four-page story had the material for 400 pages and a scope for the movie. I remember that I was intrigued by the title of the story. I told myself why would a woman have seven husbands and then I came to know that she also kills them. I was immediately hooked to it. It reminded me of a very old film Bluebeard's Seven Wives," Vishal said.

The novella has now been published into a book and will also include Vishal's screenplay of the Priyanka Chopra starrer movie.

"He has promised that he will write more novellas after his experience with 7 Khoon Maaf. Now a book including the short story, novella and the screenplay will be released soon," Vishal said while talking about his partnership with the author.

The director, who is known for his fascination with Shakespeare and has adapted Macbeth and Othello into Bollywood hits Maqbool and Omkara, says he was introduced to Bond's world by his wife Rekha, who is a huge fan of the author.

Bond, one of the most loved authors in India, is also playing a cameo in the movie. Bhardwaj says it is first time that the author agreed to write a screenplay.

"He is also in the film. I remember the first lines that he wrote were 'Finally, it all comes down to love, sweetheart' and he warned me not to cut them. He said, 'If you remove them, I will not write anything for you'," Vishal said with a smile.

Vishal, who last directed Kaminey, says he has tried to be honest to the soul of Bond's story but has made many changes and included his own elements to make this dark comedy.

"I had previously taken liberties with Shakespeare. Naturally, when you adapt a story, your vision also comes init. But I have remained honest to its essence.

"I included Kimat Lal, who plays cop in all Bond stories. Though he is not in original story I decided to bring him in the movie to pay my tribute to Bond. I have also taken liberties with the characters' names and traits," he added.

Vishal says he is confident that the film will be appreciated because the audience has matured over the years.

"It is a dark wicked comedy and black humour needs intelligent, mature audience. We are living in an excitingtime where people appreciate a film like Tere Bin Laden," said the director, who is often called the Quentin Tarantino of Hindi cinema.

And Vishal does not deny the influence of Tarantino on his work.

"I have been hugely inspired by Tarantino. I think he brought a new genre with 'Pulp Fiction' but even before that in his earlier films like 'True Romance' he has been so different. For the first time he made violence soentertaining. I think most of the filmmakers of my era are inspired by Tarantino," he said.