Parineeta" is the first of a slew of novel adaptations to be released. The much-anticipated Rani Mukherjee-starrer "Paheli" which featured Shah Rukh Khan essaying the role of a ghost, is director Amol Palekar's take on Vijayadhan Dehta's "Folktale".
The other films to follow are: Pritish Nandy's under-production "Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam" based on Bimal Mitra's book; Vishal Bharadwaj's "The Blue Umbrella" inspired by Ruskin Bond's book; Gulzar's cinematic adaptation of his own book "Raavi Paar"; and Munshi Premchand's "Bazaar-e-Husn" made as "1918 Benares: A Love Story".
After sourcing from William Makepeace Thackeray for "Vanity Fair", Indian-origin Mira Nair took to contemporary literature for her next film - "The Namesake". The film is a cinematic adaptation of Pulitzer-prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri's book by the same name.
On much the same lines, Nikhil Advani is planning a film based on Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women". And Sudhir Mishra is interested in making a screen version of Robin Sharma's bestseller "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari". Aishwarya Rai's next, a Gurinder Chadha production by husband Paul Mayeda Berges, is reportedly based on Chitra Divakaruni's "The Mistress of Spices".
3 Idiots
While Atul Agnihotri adapted Chetan Bhagat's One Night at a Call Centre as Hello in 2008, Rajkumar Hirani clearly was sensible enough to acquire the more interesting and entertaining work of Chetan Bhagat. Bhagat's first novel Five Point Someone is being adapted into celluloid as 3 Idiots starring Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor. In the book, Chetan Bhagat wrote about life in IIT engineering college though disclaiming it to be an autobiography.
Slumdog Millionaire
Another early release of 2009, Slumdog Millionaire that was already garnered name and fame across the globe is based on a novel by Vikas Swarup titled Q&A. Having won several international awards, this Danny Boyle film is said to be already in contention for Oscars
Rang Rasiya
Ketan Mehta's biographical episode Rang Rasiya on the controversial painter is an adaptation of Marathi writer Ranjit Desai's novel Raja Ravi Varma. Aparna Sen's The Japanese Wife is based on Kunal Basu's short story. The film stars Rahul Bose and Raima Sen.
Devdas
Sarat Chandra's Devdas saw a contemporary adaptation as Anurag Kashyap's Dev D. And the novel is all set for another contemporary adaptation as Sudhir Mishra's Aur Devdas. Though not an exact screenplay adaptation, the basic theme is clearly derived from Sarat Chandra's literature.
Raavana
Though not much is known about Mani Ratnam's Raavana, it seems to be adapted from the Indian mythological epic Ramayana.
What's Your Rashee?
Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Rashee? is based on a novel Kimball Ravenswood by Madhu Rye. The film stars Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra in lead roles. Other contemporary literature that is being considered for cinematic adaptation include Advaita Kala's Almost Single, Mukul Deva's Lashkar, Abhijit Bhaduri's Married But Available, Anuja Chauhan's The Zoya Factor and Vikas Swarup's The Six Suspects.
In the past, many filmmakers have made films inspired by books. This includes Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy based on Bibhutibhushan Bandhopadhyay's books. Recently, the Apu Trilogy was named among 100 best films in the world by Time magazine.
As many as 17 Saratchandra Chattopadhyay novels have been adapted into Hindi and Bengali films. Similarly, Premchand's books "Shatranj Ke Khiladi", "Sadgati", "Gaban", "Godaan" and "Heera Moti" have been made into films.
The dearth of good scripts coupled with the audiences' raised expectations is the most fundamental reason for the trend to go back to the books.
Speaking to 'G' magazine, Chandraprakash Dwivedi who made "Pinjar" based on Amrita Pritam's novel by the same name, says: "Literature is rich with well-conceived ideas and plots that are elaborately thought out. Therefore, adapting a novel readily ensures strong content."
Well novels are definitely providing Bollywood with the much needed inspiration and story ideas. But with the audience knowing the story before-hand, their expectations rise with adapted films. So, it is a gamble for filmmakers making novel based films!
