How many times have you been disappointed while watching a movie based on a book? For me, the answer is that 90% of the times, I have been dissatisfied as a viewer. At times I end up feeling so frustrated that I decide never to watch such an attempt again.

 

Of course, it is not always the fault of the film-maker. More often than not, books do not easily translate into movies, especially if you are dealing with the classics. If the book is a racy, action packed one, then the chances of it making a successful movie in the hands of a decent film-maker are pretty high, but otherwise you will end up wishing you had not seen it in the first place.

 

The movie that comes foremost to my mind in this category is ‘The Guide’. Yeah, yeah…. I am talking about the Dev Anand movie of the 1970’s.  For all you know, most people of my generation may not even have seen it. I quite understand. J Even people who have watched it from my parent’s generation are completely in love with it and wonder what I find to complain about in this movie.

 

You see, the problem is that I have read the novel by R.K. Narayan and so find the movie nothing short of sacrilege. The reason is that the book is complex, multi-layered and explores human relationships with such subtlety, that by comparison the movie seems superficial to me, even though it has great songs.

 

The book deals with the characters Raju and Rosie and how they reach an understanding of each other and themselves through a span of five to six years.  It has an unusual and interesting story. The main protagonist or heroine, Rosie, is a bored housewife who was an unknown and talented dancer before her marriage. She cannot fulfill her passion for dance since in the conservative and elite society of the seventies; it is looked down upon as a hobby. Her husband is again very non-supportive of her dancing ambitions.

 

It is at this stage in her life that she meets the hero of the novel who is an opportunistic guide. Raju is immediately attracted by the beautiful Rosie and tries his best to woo her. He has no compunction about her marital status as he is completely besotted by her. They end up having an adulterous relationship and deceive the husband. The husband’s character has also been drawn with care by R.K. Narayan. He is portrayed as a workaholic archaeologist who is obsessed with his career. Apart from this, he is a very good and innocent man who trusts his wife and has no suspicion about what is going on behind his back.

 

By the end of the movie, the relationship between Raju and Rosie disintegrates even though there is no mention of her re-union with her husband. Rosie has become a famous dancer with the help of Raju and is so passionate about her career that she does not feel the need for any other companion. Raju, on the other hand, puts on the mask of a sadhu by accident and somewhere along the line the mask becomes his reality. The novel has an open ending and you are left wondering whether Raju is dead or alive. A great novel, in short.

 

Now, if you look at the movie, they have transformed the husband into a low villain who drives his wife into the arms of another man. Both of them ( Raju and Rosie) are pure angelic characters (unlike the grey characters in the novel) who are hesitant to enter into a relationship but are forced to do so by circumstances. The whole equation changes here and the movie, to me, loses much of its allure. I do not really blame the film-makers for tweaking the script. After all, can you imagine the conservative seventies audience accepting an adulteress albeit her talent as the heroine? A big no-no. Inspite of this, I wish they had left the book alone.

 

Come to think of it, I think this is one movie that can be remade at present keeping the book in mind. I am almost sure that today’s Indian audience wouldn’t find this so shocking and it could turn out into a good thought-provoking movie.

 

Watch this category for more movies to novel comparisons…