Ritu Rai's latest project, Shakespeare 2021, is a modern retelling of the classic Shakespearean tale, "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." The web series, directed by Abhay Pannu, offers a fresh take on the timeless story, exploring themes of power, politics, and betrayal. In the series, Ritu plays the role of Calpurnia, the wife of Julius Caesar, opposite actor Ayesh Badal.
| Element | Analysis | |---------|----------| | | Unlike the passive Juliet of the 1597 text, Rai’s Juliet orchestrates the feud’s escalation by leaking confidential documents—she is the strategist , not the victim . This reversal reframes the tragedy as a political thriller rather than a romantic tragedy. | | Language Play | The balcony monologue is rendered as a voice‑over over a series of Instagram stories, each caption a line from the original sonnet, now re‑written in Marathi abhang with modern slang (“Yo, love, you’re my Wi‑Fi”). This juxtaposition highlights the timelessness of longing while exposing the performative nature of modern love. | | Costume & Symbolism | Juliet’s sari is embroidered with binary code (0‑1) in a subtle pattern, signaling her role as a digital tactician . When she removes the sari for the climax, the code is revealed, visually signifying the stripping away of pretense. | | Critical Response | Scroll.in (Dec 2021): “Ritu Rai re‑writes Juliet as a mastermind who manipulates both the audience and the narrative. The series forces us to ask: Who really dies—the lovers or the notion of love as innocence?” The episode sparked a Twitter trend #JulietReboot with over 85 k mentions. |
Rai is known for “Verbal Physicality” —she treats iambic pentameter not as a metrical constraint but as a rhythm for her body. In rehearsals she would “walk the beats”, aligning footfall with stressed syllables, a technique she credits to her early Marathi folk‑dance training.