"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

Shakespeare underlines the universality of 'rotten'-ness. No nation is a stranger to political intrigues. Scandals in the court are scintillating without being surprising. The king of Denmark is killed by his brother, who lusts after the crown and the queen. Hamlet, the prince, comes to know about this and vows revenge. Now in the hands of Rajat Kapoor, it takes a wild turn where Hamlet is the Clown Prince ( Vinay Pathak as Soso), where they enact a play within a play.

Hamlet is hardly the popular hero - he is confused and indecisive, he is unable to act and he procrastinates. He is preoccupied with thoughts of death and suicide. He achieves only when there is some natural calamity which forces him to react. Into which Hamlet’s love scene with Ophelia (Kalki Koechlin/Mansi Multani as Phi-Phi) by saying "doubt the sun, doubt the moon, but don't doubt my love for u", nothing could be more romantic. The dark ambiance which it creates is strengthened by the unique flavour of clowns which gets under your skin. Hamlet's scene with his father’s ghost and how everything is carried out is summed up in one of Prince Hamlet’s speech, "will make your eyes pop out, hair stand and heart wrench".