'Haider' depicts Kashmir in 1995: Vishal Bhardwaj

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, whose 'Haider' has been written by Kashmiri journalist Basharat Peer, says the movie is set in the year 1995, which was the peak of militancy in the Valley. The 49-year-old director says it was with the help of Basharat, the author of Curfewed Night, an eyewitness account of the Kashmir conflict, that he could manage to complete his Shakespearean trilogy.

The director has set his adaptation of 'Hamlet' against the unrest in the Valley. "I had a great working experience with Basharat, who is the writer of 'Haider. This is the first time I have worked with a journalist. I have imagined a lot about Kashmir, but the Kashmir of 95 I could only see through Basharat's eyes," said Bhardwaj at the launch of his three books 'Maqbool', 'Omkara' and 'Haider' based on his movie adaptations.

The director also thanked his past script collaborators Abbas Tyrewala, who penned 'Maqbool' and Robin Bhatt and Abhishek Chaubey, co-writers of 'Omkara'. Bhardwaj revealed that he struggled for more than a year to raise money for 'Maqbool', his first movie based on Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.

"I roamed around with the script of 'Maqbool' for one and a half years. Tabu was the only person who had said yes to the film at that time. I met many producers and none of them acknowledged the script. One of them asked me not to go ahead with the film as Shakespeare's stories were boring," he said.

The filmmaker said that despite the producer's advice, he went on to complete the trilogy in the past 10 years. "I feel very emotional to get so much love and respect. Money, I have never earned. The grass is always greener on the other side. But I am happy that I started my journey with 'Maqbool'. At that point of time I was a student and working with Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Piyush Mishra was unbelievable," he said.

'Haider' stars Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon and will hit theatres on Thursday.