Several books have been loved by readers who have wished to watch an actual visual of the Books in the form of movies. In this article, we will explore some of the Instances when Best Books were turned into Bollywood Movies.
The trend of turning Books into movies is not something new for Western cinema. However, Bollywood has always come up with mainstream films or remakes. Still, we have gotten a few films inspired by Books that have entertained us.
If you are interested in watching an amazing book about life in Bollywood, we have listed the 6 Instances when the Best Books were turned into Bollywood Movies.
1. Maqbool (2003)
Vishal Bhardwaj is known for making Films inspired by Books, and Maqbool is one of them. It is based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It is a powerful yet harrowing film with a hard storyline.
The plot follows the story of an underworld Don’s right-hand man. He falls in love with the mistress of his boss. The latter compels him to kill the boss and take over his power. Instead of Scotland’s 11th-century backdrop, this film showcases the dark and criminal underworld of Mumbai.
2. 7 Khoon Maaf (2011)
Priyanka Chopra has been a phenomenal actor and has starred in many films as a solo Lead. One of them includes 7 Khoon Maaf again by Vishal Bhardwaj. It is an adaptation of the short story “Susanna’s Seven Husbands” by Ruskin Bond.
When Vishal read the story, he felt that it could turn into a potential script for a film. Consequently, he requested Bond to develop the plot for a film. So, he expanded his 4-page short story into an 80-page novella. Further, Vishal co-wrote the script with Matthew Robbins.
It had a great musical score composed by Vishal Bhardwaj himself. Also, the lyrics were written by Gulzar. 7 Khoon Maaf follows the Plot of a femme fatale, Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes. She is an Anglo-Indian woman who causes six deaths in pursuit of love. The film was extensively shot in Kashmir and Coorg.
3. 2 States (2014)
A total of 5 novels by Chetan Bhagat have been adapted into Films. He enjoys a huge reader base, and it was unsurprising that his films were adapted into films. One of them is ‘2 States’, which is adapted from the novel of the same name.
It was written by Varman and Bhagat. The film starred Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles. On the other hand, it starred Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathi, and Shiv Kumar Subramaniam in supporting roles.
This is based on the theme that North and South India come together. It follows the plot of a romance between a Punjabi boy and a Tamilian girl. Both of them come from totally different cultural backgrounds, and they try to convince their parents to accept their relationship.
4. Devdas (2002)
Devdas has been a Classic Indian film. It is based on the 1917 Bengali-language romance novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Interestingly, he was only 17 years old when he wrote this novel. It was made into films in many languages, like Bengali, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese, and Malayalam.
The film follows the story of Devdas Mukherjee. He happens to be a wealthy law graduate who has returned from London. He comes with the intent to marry his childhood friend, Parvati “Paro”.
It is a semi-autobiographical Bengali Novel that was written back in 1901. However, it was not published until 1917 because the writer was embarrassed by his story.
5. Parineeta
Another novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay that was made into a film was Parineeta (novel). It was a Bengali-language novel published in 1914. Several times it was made into a movie. The 1942 film was directed by Pashupati Chatterjee. Later, the 1953 film was directed by Bimal Roy.
Another is directed by Pradeep Sarkar and released in 2005. It was based on the plot of a social protest. Further, the story explores issues of that era. It particularly focused on class and religion.
6. Omkaara
Another gem of a film based on a Book was Omkara. It is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language crime drama. The plot was inspired by William Shakespeare’s Othello. Further, the plot was co-written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.
It starred Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Vivek Oberoi, and Bipasha Basu in lead roles. It had a dark and intense theme where Langa desired to become the successor of Omkara. However, the latter appoints Kesu as his lieutenant. So, Langda hatches a plan to seek revenge by making him suspect his wife of infidelity.
It was the second film with crime themes in Bhardwaj’s three-film trilogy. It was a trilogy of Shakespearean adaptations set in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
Summing Up,
Bollywood has managed to come up with interesting and successful films based on or inspired by Books. Although it was done sparingly, the audiences have always enjoyed these adaptations, compelling more filmmakers to consider this option.
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