Riz Ahmed's South Asian Hamlet Adaptation Seeks to Empower Audiences in Divided Times
After a thirteen-year journey to the screen, Riz Ahmed's contemporary South Asian interpretation of Hamlet has emerged at a pivotal cultural moment. The Oscar-winning actor, now 42, believes Shakespeare's centuries-old tragedy resonates profoundly with today's United Kingdom, a nation grappling with heightened social and political fractures.
A Personal and Cultural Reckoning with Shakespeare
Ahmed reflects on his teenage years, feeling profoundly out of place until a teacher introduced him to Hamlet. "This thing that I thought was the epitome of everything that I was on the outside of actually turned out to be something that I belonged in as much as anyone else," he shares. This personal revelation underpins the film's mission: to assert that classic stories belong to everyone, regardless of background.
The actor highlights how core themes of the play—spirituality, familial duty, honour, and marital constraints—strike a deep chord with the modern South Asian experience. By infusing these universal Shakespearean conflicts with specific cultural context, the adaptation aims to make the narrative "feel more real not just for us, but for everyone."
Bold Artistic Choices: From Hindi Dialogue to Ancient Texts
Director Aneil Karia's vision incorporates radical creative decisions to root the story in subcontinental culture. Most notably, the pivotal speech by the ghost of Hamlet's father is delivered entirely in Hindi. Karia describes this as "a really satisfying and surprising decision" that brought a "transcendental kind of energy" to the scene.
This linguistic choice mirrors the fluid, multi-generational reality of British Asian life, where conversations often shift between languages. "It felt very, very grounded in the reality of the British Asian experience," Karia notes, where an older relative might speak in one language and the reply comes in English.
Ahmed, calling Shakespeare the "reboot king," connects Hamlet to timeless myths. The film's opening features words from the ancient Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, creating a bridge between Eastern philosophy and the play's existential dilemmas.
Hamlet's Timely Message of Powerlessness and Grief
Ahmed passionately argues for the story's urgent contemporary relevance. "We all need to have more Hamlet in our lives right now, because it’s really speaking to the moment we’re living through," he states. He describes the core of the play as a protagonist grieving "the illusion of a fair world" and feeling powerless within it—a sentiment he believes millions share today.
"I think this is actually the moment for us to take a look at this story and look at the dangers of what happens when people feel powerless," Ahmed asserts. He hopes the film allows audiences to "channel that grief together and feel less alone in it," reminded by Shakespeare that they are not the first to feel such despair.
Reimagining Ophelia and a Stellar Supporting Cast
The adaptation also offers a fresh perspective on Ophelia, played by Morfydd Clark. Clark, in her 30s, explores the character's tragedy through the lens of modern female experience—the "Pick me girl" who realises there is "no prize at the end" of seeking male validation. She is constrained by expectation and control, a narrative that extends the theme of powerlessness.
Joe Alwyn, who portrays Ophelia's brother Laertes, earns praise from co-stars for his nuanced portrayal of morally complex characters. Sheeba Chaddha, playing Gertrude, admired his "depth of pathos and conflictedness" in the climactic scenes. Veteran actor Art Malik, as Uncle Claudius, encapsulates the project's ethos: "Every culture has the right to take a story from somewhere else and put it into theirs so that they can understand it... And so that we can understand we’re all the same."
Arriving in a Crowded Cultural Landscape
The film enters a zeitgeist where Hamlet is experiencing a notable resurgence. From the upcoming film Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal to Taylor Swift's song The Fate of Ophelia and various stage adaptations, the Danish prince is everywhere. Ahmed encourages audiences to "Barbenheimer the hell out of this" and engage with all these interpretations, including a contemporary dance adaptation by Thom Yorke.
Ultimately, Riz Ahmed's Hamlet is more than a period piece; it is a deliberate, culturally-rich intervention. It seeks to make a classic story newly accessible and profoundly relevant, offering a sense of shared understanding and diminished isolation to audiences navigating a fractured modern Britain. The film arrives in UK cinemas on February 6, 2026.
