The Law of Conservation of Stories states that Stories cannot be destroyed, but can change form, say from TV and films to books, or from books to TV and films.
Now we’ve all heard of the success and flop stories of the latter (read Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Silence of the Lambs, Bade Acche Lagte Hain (can you believe it???!!!), Devdas, Saat Khoon Maaf, Saawariya etc. etc.), but has anyone bothered to think of whether there are any TV shows or films that have got converted into books. Well… NO!!!
The truth is that we hardly have any books that are based on TV shows and films that are meant for a holistic reading experience, and therefore this genre of books is practically unexplored, as compared to other genres.
During our (mainly referring to girls here) childhood, we might have still read some books based on ‘Full House’, ‘Two of a Kind’, ‘Sabrina: The Teenage Witch’, ‘The Sleepover Club’ etc. but THAT was pretty much it… until ‘Heat Wave’, written by ‘Richard Castle’ came along in 2009, followed by the other books in the ‘Heat’ series. Now don’t think of this as some great event that changed the course of history, because to be true, I’ve NEVER heard of anyone raving about the books, as in contrast to the TV shows. Nonetheless, an attempt had been made to write a good novel to promote the TV series, and it should be appreciated.
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THE INABILITY TO HAVE SUCCESSFUL VISUAL MEDIA TO LITERATURE CASES:
• One probable reason for the inability to convert TV shows into books could be that American and British TV shows have some new main plot in every episode, along with a side plot relating to the characters lives continuing in the background. Therefore, these stories are better suited for a collection of short stories, as opposed to a full-fledged novel. However, films could prove to be apt for this situation. There is no dearth of Indian films that could prove to be bestsellers. ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Sholay’, the ‘Munnabhai’ series could possibly rework the same magic as books that they did as films. Even TV shows like Greek, which focus on life at college, could provide fodder for a great novel. You know, something on the lines of ‘Third Best’ by Arjun Rao.
• Still, in order to get this trend to be successful, one would require writers who have the capability of engaging an audience with these stories. In fact, the main reason why such books may have not become extremely popular, is that famous authors would never adapt films into books. This is because they have their own stories to tell. This is unlike the case of films, where famous filmmakers adapt books for the big screen. Unless there is good quality writing involved, books based on TV shows will be limited to the teenage books, like those mentioned above. Hopefully, with the new breed of writers coming in, we might just get to see some new, spunky writer take up the onus to explore this area.
• I have said this before, and I’m saying it again…Indian television shows, no matter how differently they begin, always end up being saas-bahu dramas, or the endless battle between the innocent protagonist with a heart of gold, and the vamp in a shimmery saree. Thus, unless we have some more serials like Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai, 24 and maybe even CID (A CID graphic novel might actually be quite a hit!!!), Indian TV shows might not make for compelling books.
So far, we have not made great progress in this area, but it is my belief that the idea of seeing visual media inspire books is simply not wishful thinking. We REALLY might see a good, wholesome novel based on films and TV shows, in the future.
