Great stories don’t always come to screen writers, at times they have to take inspiration from books too. Some books, especially that tick with people are opted to be presented on celluloid. These celluloid versions usually work because people have their favorites and also because they love to visualize how the characters and the setting looks.
In Bollywood, we have known a few famous films like 3 Idiots, Half Girlfriend, being inspired from Chetan Bhagat’s books. Also, how most of Vishal Bharadwaj’s films are adaptations of Shakespearean plays.
Here’s looking at some of the famous Hollywood and Bollywood adaptions:
1. 7 Khoon Maaf – Susana’s 7 Husbands
The Priyanka Chopra starrer 7 Khoon Maaf was a book adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s popular novel Susana’s Seven Husbands. The film did not turn out well but Chopra was appreciated for her layered performance.
2. Harry Potter Series
One of the most successful book adaptions of all time has to be the Harry Potter series based on J K Rowling’s books. The films minted a lot of money and drove not just the reader but also the non-readers to theatres. The series comprised of 8 films based on the seven books by the author.
3. Saawariya – White Nights
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2007 film Saawariya – starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor was panned by the critics. Although not many people know that the film is a screen adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story White Nights.
4. The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons
Two of the most popular films featuring Tom Hanks, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons were based on books by Dan Brown. Both the films trace symbologist Robert Langdon’ s journey in unearthing some shocking secrets of Catholic church.
5. Bombay Velvet – Mumbai Fables
Another film that was panned by the critics, the Anurag Kashyap debacle as they called it, Bombay Velvet was a book adaptation. It was based on Gyan Prakash’s Mumbai Fables which revolved around the history of the city, its transformation from the mill dominated South Mumbai to a chic spot.
6. Lord Of The Rings
Popular book series Lord Of The Rings were adapted in films and the fantasy adventures were a huge success. Elijah Wood who played the lead protagonist Frodo made a huge career out of these films.
7. Fitoor – The Great Expectations
Abhishek Kapoor’s latest film Fitoor was adapted from Charles Dickens’ novel The Great Expectations. He based the story in Kashmir to give it an Indian treatment.
8. The Hunger Games
Jennifer Lawrence’s popular dystopian fiction films of The Hunger Games, have actually been adapted from the book series by Suzanne Collins. There have been four films in this series till now.
9. Aisha – Emma
Sonam Kapoor’s chic flick Aisha was based on Jane Austen’s popular novel Emma. It didn’t find much audience in theatres but the music was popular.
10. The Great Gatsby
Leonardo DiCaprio starrer The Great Gatsby was based on the book by the same name. The popular novel by F Scott Fitzgerald was an exemplary novel of the Jazz age and turned out to be a great film adaptation.
