It might be challenging task to adapt books into shows or series, but there are a few adaptations that have touched the hearts of the audience. Here’s a quick check
Mona
When you’re making a movie of a book, people are always waiting with their knives… says Australian actor and filmmaker Joel Edgerton. However, that hasn’t stopped filmmakers from bringing out more and more book adaptations on to the screen. With the wide world of OTT giving makers a bigger canvas, more screen time and the chance to bring out long format shows, running into seasons, classics are obviously a go-to medium.
Here’s checking out some literary gems whose OTT outings created quite a buzz.
True masterpiece
Great expectations (2023)
Based on Charles Dickens’ masterpiece by the same name, written by Steven Knight, and directed by Brady Hood and Samira Radsi, the series Great Expectations paints the dreary world of poverty, prison ships and escaped convicts. The story follows little Pip, who isn’t keen to take after the blacksmith trade that he assists his brother-in-law with. The clever, industrious boy would rather be a gentleman!
Author is hard to impress
Turning a literary classic into a series require time and patience. No matter how great the film turns out to be, the author of the book is hardest to impress. Visual medium doesn’t satisfy the creative capabilities of most authors; their readers are mostly more informed and academically invested in the subject than the regular movie-goers who take phone calls while watching films. —Anjali Khurana, screenwriter
His little act of kindness on Christmas eve links his fate to the rich and powerful in London and his life is transformed. Reimagining a Dickens’ classic is a tall order. Well, comparison of a six-episode series, summed up in six hours, to a 544-page book, invokes the major scenes. It stops short of Pip’s entire journey in the novel, but brings it to its fair conclusion early on. And as Pip says, ‘Magis magisque satis est’ (It’s more than enough), it holds true for the series streaming on Disney+Hotstar too!
Detective saga
Sherlock (2010-2017)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes still remains the crowning jewel of detective sagas. Created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role, it enjoyed a run of four series, each consisting of three episodes. It opened to much critical claim and while the first three were praised, the fourth outing received mixed reviews. Winning BAFTA as Best Drama Series in 2011; Martin Freeman also won the Best Supporting Actor for playing John Watson. Winner of multiple Emmys, its fans are still rooting for the fifth outing. It is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Diversity in representation
Stories by Rabindranath Tagore (2015)
Chokher Bali, Atithi, Maanbhanjan and Kabuliwala, Stories by Rabindranath Tagore on Netflix brings to the screen 20 stories in 26 episodes, narrating tales set in early 20th-century Bengal by Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. Directed by Anurag Basu, Debatma Mandal and Tani Basu, actors Radhika Apte, Sumeet Vyas, Amrita Puri and Joy Sengupta, among others, were a part of this series. The series won acclaim on account of painting Bengali milieu beautifully and for the diversity in representation.
Love lanes
A Suitable Boy (2020)
Based on Vikram Seth’s magnum opus, Mira Nair and Shimit Amin-directed A Suitable Boy follows Rupa Mehra’s (Mahira Kakkar) efforts in securing a ‘suitable boy’ for her younger daughter Lata Mehra (Tanya Maniktala). This six-episode series, which stars Tabu, Ishaan Khatter, Tanya Maniktala, Rasika Dugal and Ahmad Harhash, paints a picture of post-Partition India. The British series, which premièred on BBC One, fell in controversy over a kiss scene becoming a target for accusations of ‘love jihad’. Globally distributed by Netflix, it won acclaim for powerful performances by the lead cast. However, overall it met with mixed reactions.
Classic tale
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012-2013)
Created by Hank Green and Bernie Su, this 100-episode series on YouTube takes after Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The American series — starring Ashley Clements, Mary Kate Wiles, Laura Spencer, Julia Cho and Daniel Vincent Gordh — is in the form of vlogs. Based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, touted as the ‘best’ Austen adaptation, the series won multiple Emmys.
