Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: Vishal Bhardwaj gave Shakespeare a rural makeover with `Omkara` and the director, known for his penchant for dark stories, has again teamed up with Ruskin Bond for his "wicked, dark comedy" `7 Khoon Maaf`.

Bond turned scriptwriter for the movie and extended his short story `Sussanna`s Seven Husbands` into a novella at Vishal`s insistence.

The director-composer, who previously adapted Bond`s `Blue Umbrella` on bigscreen, says he was intrigued by the title of the four-page story and spotted the germ of a movie and a novel.

"The four-page story had the material for 400 pages and a scope for the movie. I remember that I was intrigued by the title of the story. I told myself why would a woman have seven husbands and then I came to know that she also kills them. I was immediately hooked to it. It reminded me of a very old film `Bluebeard`s Seven Wives`," Vishal said.

The novella has now been published into a book and will also include Vishal`s screenplay of the Priyanka Chopra starrer movie.

"He has promised that he will write more novellas after his experience with `7 Khoon Maaf`. Now a book including the short story, novella and the screenplay will be released soon,"Vishal said while talking about his partnership with the author.

The director, who is known for his fascination with Shakespeare and has adapted `Macbeth` and Othello into Bollywood hits `Maqbool` and `Omkara`, says he was introduced to Bond`s world by his wife Rekha, who is a huge fan of the author.

Bond, one of the most loved authors in India, is also playing a cameo in the movie. Bhardwaj says it is first time that the author agreed to write a screenplay.

"He is also in the film. I remember the first lines that he wrote were `Finally, it all comes down to love, sweetheart` and he warned me not to cut them. He said, `If you remove them, I will not write anything for you`," Vishal said with a smile.

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