Bollywood's novel ways!

New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) Bollywood is increasingly banking on literature to gain a foothold in global cinema.

After it rediscovered Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's "Devdas" and adapted Rabindranath Tagore's "Chokher Bali", Bollywood has now come out with "Parineeta-The Married Woman".

Based on Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's acclaimed novel by the same name, the film marks the directorial debut of Pradeep Sarkar and features Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Dia Mirza, Raima Sen and introduces Vidya Balan in the title role.

The Vidhu Vinod Chopra production is hoping to do a recur of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's cinematic adaptation, "Devdas".

The commercial success of Bhansali's mega budget Shah Rukh Khan-Madhuri Dixit-Aishwarya Rai-starrer has played a major role in revival of Bollywood's interest in literature.

Big bucks, however, have evaded films adapted from books like "Pinjar", "Maqbool" and "Raincoat" and international experiments like "Bride and Prejudice" and "Vanity Fair".

Acknowledging the lack of crowd-pulling ability of films inspired by books, Vidhu has tried to adapt the story of "Parineeta" - make it more palatable for the home turf, especially the youth, without compromising on its international appeal.

Placing the film in Bengal of 1960s instead of the early 20th century, as set in the novel, and introducing retro Bollywood elements in the form of an item number by Rekha among others, Vidhu is hoping to rekindle the interest in period classics while raking in the moolah.

"Parineeta" is the first of a slew of novel adaptations to be released. The much-anticipated Rani Mukherjee-starrer "Paheli" which features 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" being made as "1918 Benares: A Love Story".

After sourcing from William Makepeace Thackeray for "Vanity Fair", Indian-origin Mira Nair is turning 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".

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."

He adds that criminalisation of politics, onslaught of multinational companies, and displacement of tribals would be interesting subjects to work on but Bollywood filmmakers are always in search of a safe, time-tested idea that can be marketed easily.

Adaptations have their supporters. "Classics are adapted because they have an evergreen quality. Through adaptation we are just casting them into another mould and keeping them alive," writer Saurabh Shukla is quoted as saying. Entertainment and content-starved viewers couldn't agree more. Click the Movie button below for more info:
Parineeta