Devdas

Adapted from India’s greatest author Shri Sarat Chandra Chattopadhya, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Devdas’ made in 2002, is perhaps Bollywood’s most beautiful and heart wrenching movie. Not that this was a first attempt to film ‘Devdas’, but Sanjay did an exemplary job with his version. Besides some riveting performance by lead actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, the movie was brethtaking in the sets and costumes department as well. However, all throughout director Bhansali maintained that his ‘Devdas’ was different from the book, but many believed that had he confessed that his version was an adaptation from the book, people would have forgiven his Devdas character as a sensible and a mature person.

Parineeta

‘Parineeta’, the literal meaning of which is the married woman was made into a film adapted from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhya’s Bengali novel of the same name. Helmed by debutant director Pradeep Sarkar, the film featured Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt in the lead role. Produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, ‘Parineeta’ did deviate from the novel`s portrayal of the 1920`s to the film`s 1960`s, still it is seamless and is believably real. The performances are extremely neat with Saif in a mature role and Vidya Balan exceptional for a debutante, both in looks and act.

Maqbool

Immensely talented Vishal Bhardwaj made ‘Maqbool’ which was based on the adaptation of great English author Shakespeare’s Macbeth. ‘Maqbool’ had powerful actors like Tabu, Pankaj Kapoor and Irfan Khan. The film went on to win several awards and critical appreciation simply on the basis of marvelous direction done by Bhardwaj. Director Vishal Bhardwaj has this uncanny ability to give a brilliant spin off to his characters even as the real ethos of the source (here novel) remains unscathed.

Omkara

Again a masterpiece by Vishal Bhardwaj, ‘Omkara’ was adapted from the famous Shakespeare novel ‘Othello’. Set against the backdrop of Indian hinterland and politico-gang war, ‘Omkara’ showcased the bolder side of Indian cinema. The movie which starred famous actors like, Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma won a lot of accolades from the film fraternity. Saif’s role in the movie which was characterised as Langda Tyagi, who conspired against his friends to come into power, was highly appreciated for his negative role.

Pinjar

The movie was based on author Amrita Pritam’s novel Pinjar which depicted the communal war between Hindu-Muslims. Urmila Matondkar gave a power packed performance in the movie as she portrayed the lead protagonist.

3 Idiots

An absolute lovable watch, Raj Kumar Hirani’s ‘3 Idiots’, is inspired by India’s most popular bestseller writer Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone’. Even as the movie and the book deals with the present education system in India that whether getting more marks and better grades is more important than actually gaining knowledge, writer Chetan Bhagat cried hoarse for not giving him due credit for what he deserved. The filmmakers especially Vidhu Vinod Chopra outwardly lambasted Bhagat’s claims saying that only 2% to 3% of FPS was incorporated in his film.

7 Khoon Maaf

Starring Priyanka Chopra, ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ was inspired from renowned writer Ruskin Bond’s story ‘Susanna`s Seven Husbands’. The film is intricately woven around seven different characters that protagonist Priyanak Chopra evolves into in the entire coarse of the film. Director Vishal Bhardwaj has made a very intelligent and gripping film in ‘7 Khoon Maaf’.

Aisha

‘Aisha’ is a modern day adaptation of a British novel Emma by Jane Austen. The film actually centers on Sonam Kapoor who plays the lead role of ‘Aisha’. She is highly fashionable and appears to be a little snobbish. As an Emma adaptation, the film has nicely interpreted the lead character- as Aisha wasn`t 100% likable.

Saawariya

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Saawariya’ is a magnum opus based on Fyodor Dostoevsky`s short story ‘White Nights’. The film was brilliantly shot keeping the art value of cinema at the fore which also helped discover the angelic screen presence of Sonam Kapoor and an absolute power house performer in Ranbir Kapoor.

By Bikas Bhagat