Issaq
What is it?
An adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, `Issaq' is directed by Manish Tiwary who earlier made `Dil Dosti Etc'. Set in Varanasi, the film stars Prateik and Amyra Dastur who is making her debut with this film. Interestingly the real name of the leading girl is Amy and her name was changed to Amyra because of Prateik's previous love interest by the same name. The makers did not want any link up controversies related to the lead pair of their film.
The film has an ensemble cast of Ravi Kissen, Prashant Narayanan, Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Neena Gupta, Makrand Deshpande, Sudhir Pande and Vineet Singh.
Both Prateik and Amyra had to go through diction classes to play perfect Benarasi Romeo and Juliet apart from a lot of physical training that Prateik went through to have a lean look.
The Storyline
In this original Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, we see the story transposed to Banaras and its neigbouring areas that are witness to violence unleashed by sand mafia controlled by urban elite and equally violent retaliation by Naxalite armies. The sand mafia is run by two influential Banarasi families, Kashyaps and Mishras, who are at brutal feud with each other. Kashyap has an 18-year old, pretty and innocent daughter Bachchi from his first wife, Bachchi's role is played by Amyra Dastur who marks her debut in this film. On the other hand, Mishra's son Rahul (Played by Prateik) is a good-looking teenager with predictable interests for a boy of his background - Girls & Guns!
Things change when the battle-hardened and pleasure-seeking Rahul and romantic yet head strong Bachchi fall in love. Disregarding the consequences, the young lovers choose go ahead with the dictats of their hearts. What follows is a high octane action-filled drama.
Manish Tiwary's Issaq turns into a commentary on the meaning of love in contemporary India!
The Arrival
Presented by Jayantilal Gada's Pen India Pvt Ltd., Produced by Shailesh R Singh and Dhaval Gada, `Issaq' is slated to release on 26 July.