Not Shakespeare, Vishal Bhardwaj to direct film on Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida next

Mumbai: Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj is taking a break from Shakespeare and will be adapting 'The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight' as his next directorial venture.

Titled 'Abbottabad', the project will be produced by Bhardwaj and Junglee Pictures.

The book, written by Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy, is an an insider's account of al-Qaida after 9/11.

It is about the history of the terrorist network, from 2001 to the present and reveals a dark web of familial and political machinations.

No further details about the project, including the cast have been revealed yet.

Bhardwaj's last film was 'Rangoon'. Starring Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor, the film could not create any magic at the box office.

The filmmaker has earlier adapted Shakespearean tragedies - 'Macbeth' ('Maqbool'), 'Othello' ('Omkara') and 'Hamlet' ('Haider'). He has also brought Ruskin Bonds's 'The Blue Umbrella' and 'Susanna's Seven Husbands' ('7 Khoon Maaf') to the silver screen.