Adaptation_Literature and Cinema

 (e-content developed by Prof. (Dr) N A Jarandikar)

B. A. Part II

Semester III, Paper No. III

Literature and Cinema

Adaptation:

The invention of cinema is an important feature of our modern time. At first, cinema was silent, black and white. Actors from cinema did not have any social status. The cinema was meant for entertainment only. Gradually, a lot of changes took place in cinema. Today cinema has become an integral part of our life.

In modern times, cinema is considered as rival to literature. Cinema and literature share some common features. There is plot, characters, setting, dialogues in literature and cinema. Cinema is always in search of good story. It could get these stories easily from literature. People thought it a good idea to make cinema based on good novels, plays or famous autobiographies. But a lot of changes need to be done in literature while shifting it on the screen. This process of changes in literature is termed as ‘adaptation’.

In literature, the writer is at the centre. Similarly, in cinema, the director is at the centre. While bringing one complete novel to cinema, a director makes so many changes in the original work. Adaptation is like translation. While translating a work from one language to another language, a writer faces so many challenges. Similarly, a director faces such problems while making a cinema based on a literary work. Some of the problems faced by a director in adaptation are as follows:

1)   Problems related to language: While making a cinema in the Marathi language, for example, based on an English novel, the director has to be careful about the model of the Marathi language. If the original novel takes place in a village, the director makes necessary changes in the script and uses Marathi as spoken in rural areas.

2)   Problems related to culture: While making a Marathi cinema, the director changes the names of characters, places, etc. Necessary changes are made related to cultural practices. For example, festivals.

3)   Editing and deletion: Considering the need of the script, the director edits events from the original work. Sometimes even he deletes the events because there is restriction of time limit. You can read a novel with your own speed. You can spend hours and hours in reading a novel. But the director has to show it within a set time.

4)   Problems related to visual images: A writer portrays the pictures with the words. But a director has to show all the details on the screen. He needs to think about the costumes, setting, etc. For example, if the director is working on ‘A Train to Pakistan’, he must be careful while shooting Mano Majra. There should not be TV sets, mobile towers and phones in this village. The train should not be running on diesel or electricity. Simply because, these things were not available in India in 1947.

Due to these problems, many times adaptations are considered as inferior to the original literary works. But recent film studies believe that adaptation is re-interpretation of the original work. The director focuses on the issues in the original work which he thinks are suitable for the film. Thus, he focuses on certain characters, certain episodes. He uses the plot line from the original work. But to highlight the focus, he makes necessary changes in the original work.

          For example, the Hindi film ‘Haider’ is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play ‘Hamlet’. A son’s revenge against his mother and uncle is a common plot of ‘Haider’ as well as ‘Hamlet’. But then the director has made so many changes in the film. Hamlet is a prince of Denmark. Haider is a college student from Kashmir. The director has added the element of terrorism in Kashmir to the film. The Marathi play and film ‘Natsamrat’ is based on Shakespeare’s another famous play ‘King Lear’. Blind love for children is a common theme of the Marathi and English play. But the old king of the original play becomes the old actor in the Marathi play.

          Some other examples of adapted movies are as follows: The film ‘Angoor’ is based on Shakespeare’s play ‘Comedy of Errors’. The films ‘Devdas’ and ‘Dev D’ are based on the famous Bengali novel ‘Devdas’. Hindi film ‘Sarkar’ is based on the English novel ‘Godfather’. Another Hindi film ‘Three Idiots’ is based on the novel ‘Five Point Someone’.

          In this way, the director re-interprets the original work. In other words, the director’s film becomes his new creation.      

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