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PROJECT iVIEW : Literature in cinema
iVIEW AUTHOR:
Dipankar Giri (Bombay, India)
email:
dipankar.giri[at]gmail.com
Last time when I went to the office of Rajesh Singh (producer of Anwar) they yelled at me “yahan Manish Jha ka naam mat lijiye nahi to maar khaiyega”.The tempearure was soaring outside…n this came out as an increment of another degree..I was surprised..hey what’s wrong with u man….but I controlled myself n calculated what must have gone wrong with these guys….Rajesh Singh had come all the way from lucknow to finance some “different” stories….but even certified directors couldn’t recover his money…so obviously, there is an agony towards the director….I don’t know what turned the producer on whenever Manish would have narrated the story to him….I have not seen the film….all I know about the film is that the idea for the film has came from a short story “phagun ki aatmakatha” written by noted writer Priyamvad…. When Priyamvad got to know this, he claimed n get paid….I tried but couldn’t find the original story.
Noted writer director Sagar Sarhadi has made a film..”chausar“. It is also based on a short story “bandook” written by Ram Janam Pathak… it’s wonderful story which depicts the struggle of a man for a job of security guard . For the job of security guard he must has an arms license….to keep gun…this license turn to a nightmare for the guy….I have read the story n excited when got to know that sagar sarhadi has made a film on the story….I met the director.in his andheri office…a totally obliged filmmaker invited me on a trial show of the film at eros….i went n really shattered while watching the movie…I was watching a shit adaptation of a cult story…..my mind simply stuck.. is this the man who has written the milestones like kabhie kabhie,silsila, chandni diwaana ,kaho na pyaar hai n directed an excellent movie “Bazaar“….I told the director that even a blind man will not buy this film….he argued and responded with an anger in his face…this type of film is not made in the last 15-20 years…Though the movie starts well…opening scene has got some hold when the ritual of saat phere is in progress n suddenly the bride’s father notices that the groom is limping…he screams n cancels the marriage…cut to we c that the grooms younger brother is taking saat phera’s with the bride…the heart breaking song plays in the background…. “agle janam mujhe bitiya na kijoo..bitiya jo kijau to bitiyaa ke bhag na dijau..
Another prominent examples of adaptations are Prakash jha’s “Damul” n “Parinati“. Damul was based on Shaiwal’s story n Parinati was based on Vijaydaan detha’s story….I still think that Damul is the best film of Jha…yet Parinati’s destiny was so poignant n pathetic that u don’t need any other conflict in the story…. an elder couple used to kill people for their treasuries….In this blind race they couldn’t identify their son n kills him also….This conflict is very rarely told in Hindi cinema….
These r the films lesser known to the audience which borrowed their idea from literature…n failed to convince the audience…I simply couldn’t understand why they made the films so boring that nobody is interested in watching the film…my personal view is that these stories should be told in a cinematic way…they easily get stories but forgot the story telling n treatment…for me dere is only one bright idea in a film n u have to expand it with a story..they made the stories a waste. But ya there always lies a silver line n a few writers broke all the rules n created a different “story telling”…They were once considered as the best writers ….m trying to introduce some of dem in few lines…..
One of the reasons of why I liked “Mr.& Mrs. Iyer” is it’s wonderful picturisation of the song ” gustakhi ankhiyan kinne ja ladiya” .The song starts just after the exit of the old muslim couple..(Bhishma shahni & Surekha seekri).cut to “gustakhi ankhiyan” & the amazing shots…the bottles of beer lying in the shores….the driver brushing his teeth…n the long queue of vehicles… n the ultimate shot of the women who comes n offers tea to his husband repairing his truck….n the line in the background.. “kis surat nu main cha khaawa” (how can I have tea in such a situation)…..the peerless voice of Ustad sultan khan…unforgettable
The character of Muslim old man played brilliantly by none other than Bhishma saahni who happened to b the first president of IPTA(Indian people’s theatre association) n is the author of the book “Tamas“.Later in the eighties Govind Nihalani made a tv serial based on the book n was a huge hit. What I liked in the novel (n fortunately in the serial also) that while reading the book one can easily smell out a riot in the next page but
towards the end of the book rites were nowhere…definitely there were some incidents but more than the riots …there exists the “pain” of the riots…what Aparna tried to do is the same..a film on communal riots but never showed a killing…! I followed Aparna n went to “36 chowranghee lane”…again she succeded to capture the cosmopolitan Calcutta…oops ..the emptiness of ” jeniffer”…!
Another movie was “Teesri kasam” directed by Basu Bhattacharya based on the story “mare gaye gulpham“written by Phaniswarnath renu …An avid story teller, Renu was also an activist…Renu had written some masterpieces..like “Maila Anchal” & “Parti Parikatha“….Tv serial Maila Aanchal was based on his book… those were d days when Tv was not known as an idiot box… More than the content n subject, the best thing of Renu was his visualization n dialogues…While reading his book I always felt as if I m watching a film….the common man’s dialogue.like one in teesri kasam…”jaane kya hai is mahua ghatwarin ki katha me ki dono bail kaan lagaakr sunne lagte hai”…. ..The importance of mahua ghatwaran story in “Tesri kasam” was not used as a tool to create a bonding between hiraman n hirabai… rather the writer wanted us to feel the ambience of the place ..here Renu’s strength lies…telling story of people ..for the people…
Hiraman is a naive but not stupid… When the other gaadiwan asks .kahan jaa rahe ho, Hiraman replies “chattapur pachira” n then tells Heerabai that these people always interrupts.. don’t have other business to do….. are humko kahin bhi jaana hai..tumko jahan jaana hai jao…For me the best story of renu is Thes(hurt.)…. I can’t forget the writers introduction about the protagonist Sirchan “Sirchan moonhjor hai kaamchor nahi” sirchan is blunt,outspoken…. but always an artist.
The three novels which I think can depict the changing scenario of Indian villages in the post independence era were… Godaan, Raag Darbaari and Maila aanchal….. …”Raag Darbaari” was also made into a TV Serial…directed by Krishna Raghav …an FTII alumuni…
Now another writer was Kamleshwar. Gulzar’s “Aandhi” n “Mausam” were based on his novel’s. “Kaali aandhi” n “Agaami Ateet” respectively. Kamleshwar has also written “chandrakanta.”
Manohar shyam joshi was the another writer who penned the dialougues of “Hey Ram” and an Innovative writer of TV series ” humlog“, “buniyaad” & “kakkaji kahin” ……his book “kuru kuru swaaha” is one of the best black humour written in Indian literature… then there is a Udayprakash (who according to sudhir mishra is a most underrated writer) has written wonderful stories.. Mazhar kamran (man who shot satya, kaun, masti, jhankaar beats & tarkieb) is making a film on one of the stories of Udayprakash… Mohandas (not another munnabhai) …….a depressing but raw story of a man named Mohandas who gets a govt. job but got puzzled when he is told that Mohandas has already joined the duty …. the story revolves round the struggles of the man to prove himself that he is the real Mohandas… this film needs to see the day of light….the character were most alike to Tirpat singh, MLA Durga pandey n abhay singh (Mrityudand)….Mohandas faces all of them n fails in the end…
I’ve never been able to find out the reason why all the literary giants couldn’t succeed to become great screenwriters. If you go through the history of Hindi cinema, the best directors always worked with the writers who had some literature background…
17 Responses to “PROJECT iVIEW : Literature in cinema”
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Awesome post. Tragically, it’s been a long time since I read any Indian literature. The talent and wealth of stories exists and needs to be dug deeper by our filmmakers.
An interesting observation about good Indian literature not migrating to a good screenplay. Perhaps the readers of Indian literature miss the whole point of the article or just aren’t good screenwriters.
I believe the author needs to be involved in the screenwriting process. Kamleshwar and Renu still remain my favorites, though I haven’t been in touch with who the current writers are on the Indian literature scene.
A very good post. Please keep writing on PFC.
nice post Dipankar. but the worst thing is many biggies just go on cribng where r the good stries ? Phanishwar nath renu,kamleshwar,shri lal shukl….thes r the names that most ppl havent heard of in bollywood. its much more easier to copy from foriegn dvds rather than to adapt from book. n stories set in villages…dont remember which was the last film. forget villages, not even small towns.
dipankar, ur post set me review my priorities. It has been quite some time since I have kept myself away from Hindi literature.There are quite a few writers whose works are ready material for multiplex audiences(that is the niche emerging very strongly in India). Mohan Rakesh, Rangay Raghav, Amrutlal Nagar, Mannu Bhandari, Bhagwati charan Verma have penned some wonderful short stories that could be adapted for the screen. Well then you need good screenwriters and here lies the crunch.Most of the screenwriters in Bollywood are fed on diets that just fill the bill. Whether they are wholesome it is debatable.Really informative post and a sort of reminder to catch up with our literature and heritage.
Dipankar, The title is misleading.. as in the context of the title you have covered a little by missing names like Munshi Premchand, Sarat Chandra, Bankim Chandra, Tagore, Bimal Mitr, Agha Hashra Kashmiri, Mahashweta Devi, Rajinder Singh Bedi, RK Narayan.. and not to forget Gulashan Nanda..
will add a little more to this thread when I reach home..
Nice article Dipanker. Rahi masoom raza wrote the scripts of mahabharat, neem ka ped, lamhe and few more. His work, “katra bi Arzoo” is one of the finest novel. He was great success as a novelist but i think didn`t match his work in film industry.
Excuse me for digressing here.
I think it all goes back to the sames things… Films and audiences have changed… appreciation of literature isn’t what it used to be. The more intellectual and interesting stories are considered “boring”, so what we get is mindless “popcorn” entertainment. “Leave your brains at home” is waaay to fucking overused when talking about watching a film… its like its not socially acceptable to be smart when watching popular cinema…
Then again you have to think would intelligent stories/films such as Aandhi or Mausam be appreciated today? Forget appreciated, how many people would actually look deeply enough into these kinds of films to really understand them?
Even if we leave that aside, there’s not much innovation in the stories we are getting. I mean, can’t we take an intelligent story and maybe give it some layers which would appeal to the entertainment-seeking general audiences?
A metaphoric story such as “Little Miss Sunshine” was given a light, comical treatment, making ot more entertaining and thus allowing it to reach a wider audience.
This is also what worked for “Rang De Basanti”, which is a more complex story which was given a very youthful energetic treatment which made it so appealing.
Maybe do the reverse and take a simpler, more identifiable story and give it some strokes of intelligence to increase its depth.
“Khosla Ka Ghosla” did a bit of both. It took a very real, socially relevant and relatable story and gave it a very light hearted treatment, while adding subtle layers. This is why I find that film so brilliant!
“they easily get stories but forgot the story telling n treatment
Pinjar directed by dr. chandraprakash dwivedi is the best adaptation of literature.it is based onAmrita Pritam’s novel PINJAR.
dont cry…try to understand why literature is not required for mainstream hindi films.just ask karan johar or aditya chopra to name a few hindi writers…i am sure you will bi kicked out.
Tony - literature is great but it needs to be adapted properly…
Look what vishal did with Shakespeare and Man i sir did it with Satyvan savitri (Roja), Mahabharatha-Karna episode (Dalapathy) …
And dipankar - shit there’s so much hindi literature to be read !!! To bad we usually ignore literature written in our native tongue for english literature.
Awesome post :-) Thanks a ton for this
Excellent point raised Dipankar. Honestly, can’t see any of the recent filmmakers taking any heed of the abundant repertoire of lit-stories that many of our highly talented writers have produced. Gone are the days of Satyajit Ray,Shayam Benegal n Govind Nihalani where they used to take good, solid stories written by stalwarts and convert them into riveting movies.
There are tonnes of great lit writers whose works are begging to being made into films. In Marathi there are works of G.P.Deshpande, Jaywant Dalvi, C.T.Khanolkar in bengali there are Mahashweta devi,Bimal Mitra etc. I am sure there must be a lot of other writers in different languages which are real gems.
PS: Chandrakanta is written by Devaki Nandan Khatri n not Kamleshwar as you mentioned.
Kartik - yeah I agree with you 100%… On the subject of Shakespeare, Gulzar did a wonderful job of adapting “Comedy of Errors” in Angoor…
Wasn’t “Mere Apne” also a literary adaptation?
Ajay - Yes I loved Pinjar, although Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi did, on a few occasions, diverge from the book perhaps to convey his own interpretations or perhaps it he found those portions wouldn’t translate well to cinema…
I also thought Parineeta (the Pradeep Sarkar version) was a good adaptation (of Sarat Chandra’s novel of the same name) although I don’t quite like the films ending…
Mainak, for you:
Last film watched: “Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi” (5.5/10)
Next film planned: “Ek Chithi Pyar Bhari”
Currently listening to: Life in a Metro (”In Dino” is brilliant!) and Shootout At Lokhandwala (”Ladkhayein Kabhi Kabhi Sambhalte Gaye…”)
thanx for this overwhelming response…frankly speaking i never had expected so much debate over this article…first of all i want to clear that this piece is only an attempt to revive the importance of gr8 writers whose writings have been choosen for adaptation but never been so popular as sharat babu tagore or premchand…these r the writers of 70s which i feel is the most revolutionary decade of the last millenium…so genuine n so pure…this was the period when congress party has got his frst challenge…the princple”aam aadmi humaara devta hai” was followed so purely that the whole country was in a gear of change….such a period these writers were writing ….
if u want i can write abt the whole premchand era..n a fact which can disturb u ..
for ajay - agar aapne kabhi rasgulla khayaa hi nahi hai to aapko rasgulle ka taste kaise pata chalega….aapne audience tak literature ko pahunchne hi nahi diya…uske paas option kya hai… n pinjar that artificial sets n actings of overdose..for me pinjar is only manoj..he justified the underplayed character of rashid so well that i fall in love with him
gopi- the screenplay of ” chandrakanta” was written by kamleshwar
thats true…manoj was very good in pinjar.maine best adaptation ki baat ki thi.even amrita pritam was happy for that.
literary writings and script writings are two different genre.zaroori nahi ki behtarin writer safal script writer ho.han agar film sahitya se sanjeevnee le to jyada dinon tak darshkon ke beech dhadak sakti hai.
This is one reason I LOVE i-View! Such informative, rich and diverse posts truly expand the reach and possibilities of PFC.
Thanks for this, Dipankar.
Like most of the DVD-kids, I too, unfortunately, am at a lack of the
Yaar Deepu,
I too have read some novels, well not as many as you have read, and also have seen the adaptations of some of them into movies. And I don’t think that the final product (movie) can be as goood as the literature if there is no deviation from the story, both are different mediums and their requirements.
I must say the adaptation of Shakespear’s Macbeth and Othello have been very good and in tune with the mindset of Indian audience. If directors can do justice to alien scripts, how come they fail to do justice to the Indian stories.
And yess, I never saw Guide, after I read “The Guide” of RK Narayan. Well it cant be picturised as well as it has been written. However, people find Guide a good movie, but I can not be convinced on this point.
And you are a great observer. Kudos
Well researched article, I must comment. However, I would say that apart from blaming cinema and cinema-maker of present generation, we must look around the quality of literature around us, especially in Hindi, language of movies we are talking abt.
I am sorry to say that not enough quality literature is coming out nowadays in hindi. While in 60s-70s, we had writers and poets active in hindi-urdu literature, there were movements like nayi-kahani experiment, experiments of all sorts, and above all readers to enjoy and give their verdict. Do we have this set-up now? I do not remember a good piece of writing in last few months, neither I have learnt of any hindi novelist recently. Have you? In this back-ground what do we expect from todays movie-makers? Ain’t we know that stories reflect the life and time around us? Are we reading books and appreciating good literature? And how many of us? If we are living a life like this, who is to be blamed? Those film makers who are making movie just for earning their living? We do not expect them to become artictic just for the sake of a few people…..
Read somewhere…”Cheer up. Worst is yet to come.”
:x
very nice…..
keep it up….
Dipankar: Nice post.
Sorry bit late in reading it. But even late reading brings fruits:)
Parinati was perhaps among one of the best films made on folk tales. One listens this story since childhood and Prakash Jha made an impressive film.
If I recall correctly was it not Anang Desai who had played the role of the son, who comes back from the city without informing his parents and without revealing his true identity and his parents kill him as they used to kill other travellers. Surekha Sikri was his mother. Cant recall who played his father but has faint memory of quite young Nandita Das.
Renu’s Maila Anchal has too much regional impact especially in the language but Parti Parikatha has all the ingredients to adapt it on screen. A wonderful novel.
Many wonderful novels and stories are there which may turn out in to to equally wonderful films.
In Hindi literature many authors are underrated, rather it shd be said that hindi literature itself is underrated.:(