Authors Pick Books Whose Onscreen Adaptations They'd Love To See

With Siddharth Roy Kapur making a TV series out of William Dalrymples historical bestseller, four authors share books they hope will be adapted, too

Some films do not start with a script but a book or story that is adapted into one. Now, with the rise of OTT platforms, the written word finds its way into web and TV series, too. From Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca or Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, more adaptations are surfacing by the day, during the lockdown. The latest title to make this shift is Scottish historian William Dalrymple's The Anarchy, a riveting account of the rise of The East India Company, which will be made into a TV series by Siddharth Roy Kapur. So, we asked four authors the book-to-screen adaptations they'd like to see next.

Literary masterpiece

Of all the books she's read recently, Meghna Pant picks KR Meera's Hangwoman. The city-based writer states that we are witnessing a time, where good stories are finally getting the right treatment, and hence, are being converted into entertaining but uplifting content. "The increased focus of especially OTT platforms on nuance and character, means that literary fiction books are now in favour. Therefore, Hangwoman that has won many literary awards is a good choice," she shares.

Pant refers to the story as a searing tale about Chetna, a poor girl, who challenges patriarchy and goes on to become an executioner. "With strong female protagonists converting to commercial success, seeing a young woman hang criminals to death while being humane, will click with the audience. Though I must warn you that the book is voluminous and Dickensian, so it will require a gifted screenplay writer to hit the right notes and make for an engrossing watch,"
she asserts.

For the love of it

Dharamvir Bharati's Hindi novel Gunahon Ka Devta has been adapted into a soap opera, and has also been the title of a Jeetendra film with an unrelated plot. But economics and finance writer Vivek Kaul hopes to see it turn into a TV series owing to the "slowness" of the storyline that would lend itself well to the format.

"It's a book that was published in 1949, and is still in print. The fact that it has survived for 70 years is testament to how good it is. A love story set in Allahabad — which comes across as a really beautiful city — of the 1940s, the entire dynamic of the relationship between the two main characters is weird. Plus, we don't see a lot of Indian literature get adapted," he shares.

A magical escape

Anuja Chauhan whose novel The Zoya Factor was adapted into a film directed by Abhishek Sharma starring Sonam K Ahuja and Dulquer Salmaan last year, votes for Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The phantasmagorical children's book revolves around a 12-year-old who embarks on an adventure to Kahani, the earth's second moon. "It would make an amazing series. I know it's a tough call because there'll be a lot of special effects required. The story is all about the freedom of expression and takes me into a magical world," she shares. Chauhan also adds that it's not important for adaptations to retain the exact dialogue but rather, the spirit of it.

Words of war

"It's about time to do some really cool war stories, not just India-centric but on India's place in the first and second World Wars," says Varud Gupta. He picks two books that explore this subject — Shrabani Basu's For King and Another Country and Raghu Karnad's Farthest Field. "Both have not only good war experiences but also a character of what it was like during that time. The essence of the story will have to be derived in the adaptation. But I think we're finally comfortable giving storytellers, writers and directors the power to make adaptations but we need to explore other genres; we have enough of the mobster-gangster- killing-people variety," he adds.

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