15 Brilliant Bollywood Films That Are Based on Books

Books and Films have a connection since inception. We do know that it is books that form the basis of most of the films out there. It is often said that story is the hero and it’s not surprising that the amazing, fascinating, spellbound movies with mindboggling stories and twists are derived from books written long before. The letters relive in the form of motion pictures. Novels are filmmakers’ inspiration.

“If it can be written or thought, it can be filmed.” – Stanley Kubrick (Legendary Hollywood Filmmaker)

While Hollywood is famous for creating cinema based on the literature, the Bollywood is no less. Yes, even Bollywood has had it’s own share of brilliant movies based or inspired from the novels or short stories.

Here I have listed few of them and would suggest you to read and watch the both.

 1.    7 Khoon Maaf

Yes, the Indian black-comedy-film “7 Khoon Maaf” is an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s popular short story named, “Susanna’s Seven Husbands”

2. Aisha

Sonam Kapoor starrer film “Aisha” might not have done well on the box office but it bring out Sonam as a fashionista in real life. This movie was glamourized version of a short story by Jane Austen called “Emma”.

3. The Blue Umbrella

This critically acclaimed film “The Blue Umbrella” is based on a book of the same name by our own Ruskin Bond.

4. Lootera

Abhinav Kashyap directed film “Lootera” is based on a classic novel “The Last Leaf” by O Henry.

5.  Saawariya

Saawariya marks the debut of Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor into the Bollywood stardom, which is based on a legendary Russian short story “White Nights” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Not just Bollywood but this book has been adapted by numerous filmmakers in various languages world-wide.

6.     Nadiya ke Paar or Hum Aapke Hai Kaun

Both of them are considered Bollywood’s classic film and little do the people know that they are adaptations of book “Kohbar ki Shart”, an Hindi novel by Keshav Prasad Mishra.

7.     Haider

The movie which we can say the resurrection of Shahid, was adapted from the great play by Shakespeare called “Hamlet”

8.     Shatranj ke Khiladi

A legendary historical drama film by Satyajit Ray based on the book with the same name by Munshi Premchand.

9.    Devdas

Who in Bollywood would not have seen or heard about DEVDAS?! It has been made multiple times for multiple generations. It was based on a classic Bengali Romance Novel called “Devdas” or “Debdas” by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

10. Kai Po Che

Everyone knows it. Based on Chetan Bhagat’s popular novel “3 Mistakes of My Life” this movie was greatly appraised by the Indian audience and critics.

11.  2 States

This lovable movie, starring Arjun Kapoor and my favourite Alia Bhatt, is based on the book “2 States”  by Chetan Bhagat. Psst! Why am I even tellin’? EVERYONE KNOWS! *facepalm*

12. Omkara

Another brilliant movie based on another great work of Shakespeare, “Othello”

13. Parineeta

A well acclaimed drama and a landmark film in Bollywood, Parineeta is based on the Bengali novel “Parineeta” by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.

14. Detective Byomkesh Baskshy

Adapted from a Bengali story “Satyanweshi”, revolving around the character Byomkesh Bakshi who is a detective, created by Sharandindu Bandhopadhyay. Yes, the desi version of Sherlock Holmes franchise.

15. Mary Kom

We all know that this film is a biopic on the life of boxer Mary Kom, but little do we know that it is actually based on a book, an autobiography of Mary Kom, which is co-authored by Dina Serto. The book is called “Unbreakable”

- Kshitij Choudhary

( www.kshitijchoudhary.in )

Aroh's Perspective on Films

Films play an important role in everyone's lives. Films are an interesting way of communicating and understanding our surroundings  and they are filled with dramatic, comedy, action, thriller and down to Earth ground reality. This all is possible due to the camera advancements, camera graphics and computerised tricks.

In older times we had black and white  films with low resolution cameras but didn’t fail to make an impression on people’s heart and soul. Today's cinemas have changed a lot and have completely transformed the perception of people. Films are released on huge silver screens and are doing good business. There are high budget Hollywood films which demonstrates the growth of world cinema. Fantasy films show  unexpected dreams which can not be imagined any where else in the world, they do remarkable work not just as a team but also as a technically advanced crew.

In today's world, films have changed in all forms from acting to directing. No one likes to watch a film which does not have a good theme line, a good logo or story and spices or drama and action full of comedy and thrilling moments. Even in India people watch all types of films from suspense to thrillers and comedy. In India people watch films of various styles and languages filled with mirch and masala. They have a dominant sense of watching them with a birds eye view,

they capture and follow every aspect of the films,they don't compromise on the entertainment and the quality it offers.

The dialogue delivery in the Indian films have to put stress on

the vocal voice of every actor to engage the large crowed. The bollywood known to us as the film Industry of India has changed a lot since many years. The technology has also advanced in all aspects but have not met the international Hollywood needs. In 1940’s and 1950’s and 1970’s films were of black and white in the starting and slowly changed into colour films which in the starting and slowly changed into colour films which flowed a colour of light in every persons mind. Even Today people watch black and white films curiously in India and believed in their art of plays and dialogue delivery which they use to give.The Bollywood films have expanded since quit a while and are doing international business around the world. Films like-3 Ediots,Gajhini,Tare sameness per,Dhoom-3,Bajrangi - bhai jan have showed their importance around the world. Some films like “Slumdog millionare” and “Life of pie”have achieved Oscar-nominations and won the award. Indian films like to convey a message in the society which I like a lot. Films like Wanted, Don-2, Sholay, Don,Dabang, Dabang-2, etc…and many more. My actors which are favourite to me are Salman Khan,Shah Rukh Khan,Rajesh Khanna, Hrithik Roshan, Amir Khan,

Saif Ali Khan,Amitabh Bachchan and many more in bollywood Industry. In India films have a local importance which is very important for a film to be successful. There is no other way of making films in India until or unless one understands the people and their thoughts. There are a variety of films which are released in different languages starting from Tamil,Telugu to Hindi and Marathi,Gujarati,Bhojpuri and Bengali. There are as many states in India as there are films released in each state

of their own local importance and languages.Indian people watch films of their own choice in their own taste and critisize or appreciate the film making in what ever way they can from Boycotting the theatres,through rallies involving burning of posters, spreading a message of unwanted talks about what ever film it may concern. Hollywood Films are rich but,the Bollywood films are much lesser than they expect in money. Hollywood films are seen by everyone even in India like they are seen in any other part of the world. Hollywood films are quality driven and much high standards as compared to the Bollywood films. Some of my favourite Hollywood films are Jurassic world,Avengers-2,Man of steel,Pacific rim,atc… And many more. My favourite actor’s are Tom cruise,Willsmith(Men in Black -1,2and3),Danial Radcliffe and last but not the least Arnold Schwarzenegger (terminator series) and Daniel Craig (James bond series). There is a scope of film making in today's world for all and demand for

Actors,Directors,Producers,editor’s have increased in comparison to the past.

At a global platform we can say that films have changed our way of living and have affected or touched the lifestyle we follow. Some films have also motivated the young youth f becoming Superheroes like them(Superman,Batman,Spiderman)( Series).These films have driven a child to focus on its favourite character no matter what it takes to become like one some day. Some science fiction movies have also attracted children's attention like (Star Trek)series

Which you all would have watched on the screens. No matter what it takes to increase our

Expectations,films keep on coming one after another,better and better would be the technology in the near future,people will like seeing films more than they see each other. They will get dragged by their emotions to the nearest film theatres to watch their preferred films. They will not get time to interact with each other and rather will involve themselves in more movies. The revolution of movies will go on till ages to come and continue to indulge kids and elders into the camera forever. In today's world people watch  films on television,theatres,mobile phones,computers and In many other gadgets. In the age of virtual reality movies are becoming as real as they can get and opening the doors to the next generation and unexpected possibilities of watching films.

- AROH PANDEY ( BJMC )

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - The Movie Which Revolutionised Sci-Fi Genre

As an artist myself, I consider films as one of the most important form of art. It's the movies that give us a beautiful escapism from reality to a world of their own. It's a Rocky Balboa or an Ellen Ripley that makes us want to become like them. A movie like Iron Man releases and every engineer wants to design a suit like the one of Tony Stark’s. It's the world of Star Wars or Star Trek that makes people all over the world fight over the characters and circumstances that don't even exist in real life.

img source: stangehorizons.com

One of my all time favourite film was a revolution to science fantasy movies. 2001: A Space Odyssey. A Stanley Kubrick master piece. Being a huge science-fiction fan, this movie stands above all for me. Released in 1968, this movie revolves around the exploration of humankind in 2001 to solve the mystery behind the strange monoliths found in several places including one on the surface of moon. This film was not just a masterpiece, but also an inspiration for many science-fiction/fantasy movies which are about to come, including Star Wars. It is a story told in a steady pace, told mostly not by words but by cinematic means of expression. Perfect blend of spectacular special effects and classical music bring to life creations of human imagination in both realistic and poetical way.

This Alex North musical starts off with a slow rumbling with a black screen which goes on for minutes, with the audience expecting something huge from the movie before the title appears. Once the movie started off, the imagination of the future in this movie stunned me to such an extent that I had to check whether this movie really released in 1968 or not. Nobody could have imagined the technology of Skyping and astronauts using tablets in space during 1968.

Despite excellent acting and amazing characters, it's the character of HAL 9000 for me that steals the show. Voiced over by Douglas Rain, HAL 9000 is ironically the most "human" character present in the film that won't take any second chance for the mission to succeed. Douglas Rain made such a huge impact by his voiceover, that this voice further inspired Anthony Hopkins to behave as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the Silence of the Lambs the way HAL 9000's voice behaviour was. It is a film like no other, not only revolutionizing science fiction, but also changing the way films are conceptualized. It was probably America's first film and has inspired the likes of George Lucas and countless other writers and directors.

Apart from its visual greatness, the reason the film spawns so much discussion and analysis is because so many people have so many different interpretations of it. Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, his co-writer, had a vision, but we have never really found out what was going through their minds. Of course, the skinny on its 'message' is how technology of the future will take over humanity and decide the course of our lives unless we are careful. 2001's ending is one of hope, a version of our rebirth through the star-child's flight back to earth. Just like the monoliths shown in this movie, this movie is an epitome of perfection and a movie that will inspire humanity to rise for many more generations. For me, 2001: A Space Odyssey is and will always be a legendary piece of art.

- Kshitij Choudhary (BJMC I'D')

What Is TIMECODE?

TimeCode is the Film Club of Amity School Of Communication(acronym ASCO), Amity University, NOIDA.

A definite place for short filmmaking, documentaries, vlogs, reviews, workshops, discussions, screenings and lot more. A perfect forum for like minded rebels who wish to make an impression in this world through the medium of films. This club is for the people who believe in the power of motion pictures.

If you have that crazy creative spark in you, then join TIMECODE.

Club Mentors:  Dr. Aman Vats & Mr. Pulkit Jain

J1 Block, ASCO, Amity University, NOIDA.

For queries, email- amity.timecode@gmail.com