By Srishti B Dutta
This is the age of films being made which are inspired from their book versions. Hollywood as well as Bollywood is experimenting with this. It has gained popularity and has started coming up in a big way because in a book you get a prepared script – one that has been read and liked by many. A good book has the potential to be turned into an even better movie given that the director himself is efficient enough. A book provides us with words printed on a paper while a movie provides us with an audio and visual experience. So which one is better – Books or their Movie adaptations?
Harry Potter is a classic. Both the books and the movies have been equally appreciated. Although some feel that the movies lack the depth present in the books but nevertheless, the bespectacled Harry, Hermione and Ron have enthralled audiences for years. Twilight is one case where the books are much better than the movies, despite the ‘Oh so dreamy Edward’ and ‘The muscle-man Jacob’ craze that they have created regarding Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner respectively. Vampires have come into the spotlight because of the movies but only when you read the books, do you actually feel like you are transferred into a world in which vampires are loveable instead of being scary! Life of Pi was the most difficult book to be made into a movie. Lot of money had to be invested in it. Hats off to Ang Lee for managing it to the best of his ability. After all, showing a tiger on the same boat with a teenaged Indian boy is not a piece of a cake! The Oscar was well deserved by Mr. Lee
Other books are in the process of being made into films. A recent book I read was ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ by John Green. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old cancer patient, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee. The story might seem uninteresting but I was pleasantly surprised with it. It is filled with humor, sadness, love, desperation, helplessness and happiness. The movie is a much anticipated one.
Another much awaited movie is the Fifty Shades trilogy. The books, described by some as ‘Mummy Porn’ was a hot sell-out among all and its movie adaptation could be great, if shown in the right erotic way!
Bollywood too has its own share of movies which are based on books. The basis of the story of ‘3 Idiots’ was borrowed from Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller ‘Five Point Someone’. Kai Po Che was another successful adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Three Mistakes Of My Life’. Despite being a bestseller, I loathed the book. But the movie was unexpectedly good – a thoroughly enjoyable one with a twist in the end. Karan Johar just got the rights of the ‘Shiva Trilogy’ by Amish Tripathi to be made into a movie. There is a great deal of expectation from the movie, given that the books were immensely popular but I am not really sure whether Karan Johar would be able to do the justice to the book. The thought of Shah Rukh Khan as Shiva doesn’t appeal to me somehow but then let’s wait and watch who bags the role.
These are just a few examples of movie adaptations from books. Some worked, others didn’t. Different people are bound to have different views. The book lovers believe that books allow a vivid imagination while movies limit the scope of imagination as everything is prepared and served to us. One sees what the director wants them to see. On the other hand, movie buffs love the dialogues, songs, glamor and the overall feel that a movie provide, which is not possible in a book. Hence, it is ultimately all about your personal choice.
