Bollywood has given us numerous movies till date, but some films have had some weight to them, as though they had existed in other forms before suddenly becoming films. Or perhaps it is because they came from pages and were worked out peacefully by writers long before directors laid a hand to them. These 8 movies were not merely the narration of a story. They were the memory of something that had already been written and then recreated—something you could touch and see and remember in a different way.
Here are 8 Bollywood Films That are Based on Books and Novels:
1. Devdas (2002) – Based on Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, has been adapted numerous times into films but the film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali made the story feel bigger than life itself. Entering a multi-colored fantasy world, starring Shah Rukh Khan as an ill-fated lover , the movie kept the raw emotion of the original book intact and covered it with rich visuals and theatricality. The novel is the commentary on the repression, social limits and self destruction and the movie, though stylized in its own right, does not diminish its tragic nature. At each moment when Dev touched his drink or glanced away at Paro we sensed a fragment of something breaking. The movie did justice to emotions. Even the Bhansali glamour of the film does not wash away the messiness of emotions that the author originally established in the characters of Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi.
2. Kai Po Che! (2013) – Based on The 3 Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat
Kai Po Che! stayed closer to The 3 Mistakes of My Life by Chetan Bhagat, and that happened to be beneficial. Under the director Abhishek Kapoor, the film did not hurry to establish the three friends, their aspirations and the socio-political pressure around them. This is not to say that Gujarat earthquake, cricket, politics and communal conflict were not mere backdrops to the story, these influenced the moral compass of the story. The characters were well-placed and we could feel Govind in the emotional journey thanks to the efforts of Sushant Singh Rajput. It was not like any other bromance in Bollywood but it actually had bite: the book did not hesitate to show the intricacies of growing up in volatile times.
3. 3 Idiots (2009) – Inspired by Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat
3 Idiots, could be the most commercially successful adaptation on this list, but it was fairly different to Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. Though the overall story idea of the pressure cooker education system was kept, Rajkumar Hirani gave the script a satirical spin, depth of emotions, and memorable characters. The movie shifted focus from a collective perspective to the magnetic Rancho (Aamir Khan), a different idea as compared to how the book had been constructed. Regardless of the artistic license, the film became a national debate on how we gauge intelligence and success, something the book written by Bhagat attempted though on a smaller scale.
4. Raazi (2018) – Based on Calling Sehmat by Harinder S. Sikka
Based on the book Calling Sehmat by Harinder S. Sikka, Raazi provided the life of a female spy from a human lense. Alia Bhatt brings Sehmat in layers of vulnerability and never goes to the ordains of a cinematic ‘heroine’. The film did not glamourise the spy act. Rather it looked at the price: personal, moral, emotional. The novel on which it is based had been raised more on facts and Meghna Gulzar made it into a tense and character-driven film in which even the silence spoke. It was not patriotism only; it was about what that word demands from someone caught in the crossfire of love and loyalty.
5. Haider (2014) – Adapted from Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Haider, another film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, is the most ambitious adaptation in the list. Shakespearean Hamlet, adapted to conflict ravaged Kashmir. It was an adaptation and more to say an interpretation. The portrayal of Shahid Kapoor as Haider created an emergence of madness, grief, and vengeance in a very painfully real manner. The famous: To be or not to be was turned into Hum Hain Ki Hum Nai and all of it, all the betrayal and all the lines were washed in the political climate. Hamlet was about hesitation and internal struggle and Haider brought that suffering into a place that had been ravaged by long years of real conflict.
6. Parineeta (2005) – Adapted from Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Parineeta, another film based on a novella by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, was more soft and romantic in nature. Directed by debutant film director Pradeep Sarkar it featured Vidya Balan and Saif Ali Khan and most of the austerity of the original material remained intact. It was not only the love story and how apt the film was in recreating the atmosphere and setting of pre-independence Bengal. The love, class and ego tensions came forth in a very quiet way as it played out in the mind of the original writer, it was subtle and emotional yet a lot remained unsaid. There was no superfluous cinematography and music that was destroying the storyline, but, on the contrary, supported its mild rhythm.
7. Aisha (2010) – Inspired by Emma by Jane Austen
Aisha, was a risky step for the Indian adaptation of Emma of Jane Austen. And that succeeded, at least visually. The film, led by Sonam Kapoor, adapted Austen by enhancing the fashionable and the Delhi high society culture in lieu of the original standpoints of match making, class and self-awareness. It did not attempt to recreate the book but reflected a story of a young woman involved in the lives of others and later found out how blind she was. The movie has also been labeled as too focused on the style than the substance but an Austen lover will tell you that Emma has always been about appearance – how we perceive people and how we see ourselves.
8. The Blue Umbrella (2005) – Based on Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond
This is probably the gentlest film in this list The Blue Umbrella, is a film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and based on a children novel by Ruskin Bond. It does not announce its presence. It develops as a picture book simple, slow, but real in emotion. The heart of the film is a young girl who gets a bright blue Japanese umbrella and the whole village, especially a shopkeeper, starts envying it. Even a jealous shopkeeper as played by Pankaj Kapur lent seriousness to the story based on envy and forgiveness. The moral lesson was not imposed; it came out easily as Bond wanted it to. It is one of those films that understands that less can be more, It won’t even attempt to make child literature pretentious and complicated.
Now you know why they felt so familiar — like stories you hadn’t heard, but somehow already knew.
