Darjeeling Venom Re-imagines Shakespeare’s Hamlet in an Indian Crime Saga

Darjeeling Venom: Shakespeare Meets the Darjeeling Underworld

Set in the mist-laden hills of Darjeeling during the monsoon of the early 1980s, Darjeeling Venom is a sweeping crime tragedy that re-imagines Shakespeare’s Hamlet in an Indian context. Behind manicured tea gardens lies an underworld of greed, ambition, and smuggling where snake venom serves as a currency of power.

When Hector Wilson, patriarch of the wealthy Wilson family, is found dead from an apparent snakebite, his son Hayden returns from London. Haunted by visions of his father's ghost, Hayden learns that his uncle Karson allegedly murdered Hector to seize business and political control. Meanwhile, a driven NCB officer named Harshad Sharma attempts to dismantle the snake-venom racket amidst corruption and danger.

Writer and Director

The play is written and directed by Divyanshu, an accomplished Indian film and theatre director, writer, and actor whose previous work includes the film Mortuus and festival feature Udayan. Trained under Bharti Sharma, Divyanshu serves as a mentor and one of the leading heads of the Kshitij Theatre Group. Darjeeling Venom was honored as the Best Play of the Year by the Delhi Government in 2024.

About Kshitij Theatre Group

Founded in 1987 by National School of Drama alumna Bharti Sharma, the Kshitij Theatre Group has a history of producing modern, classical, and Western works. The group has performed at international festivals including the Theatre Olympics, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, and the Kathmandu International Theatre Festival, earning multiple Best Play of the Year awards from the Sahitya Kala Parishad.