Bollywood Movies Inspired by Novels.

Novels have always been the basis for great inspiration for creations beyond one’s imagination. They have helped in opening up minds and reaching the hearts of people. They have also been adapted into movies so that people widely receive the story and the message. Bollywood adapted several novels, both Indian and foreign, into films successfully. 

Brief Overview of Bollywood Movies Inspired by Novels 

There are approximately 633 novel-inspired movies made in India. Among them are Bollywood films as well. 

Some famous novel inspired movies in recent times are – 

Two states and the film based on 2 States, the book by Chetan Bhagat; 

Padmaavat, the film based on the epic poem Padmavat by Malik Muhammad Jayasi; 

Bajirao Mastani is based on Raau by Nagnath S. Inamdar; 

Haider is based on Hamlet, by William Shakespeare and 

Half Girlfriend is a film based on Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat. 

However, Bollywood is not new to adapting novels into films. The first film adapted ever was Devdas (1928), the movie based on Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. 

Bollywood Movies Inspired by Novels of foreign writers

Foreign Novels adapted into Notable Bollywood Movies are given below as Book – Film. 

1. Emma by Jane Austen – Aisha by Rajshree Ojha
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Bride and Prejudice by Gurinder Chadha
3. Othello by William Shakespeare – Omkara by Vishal Bharadwaj
4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare – Haider by Vishal Bharadwaj
5. Macbeth by William Shakespeare – Maqbool by Vishal Bharadwaj
6. White nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky – Saawariya by Sanjay Leela Bhansali
7. The Citadel by A. J. Cronin – Tere Mere Sapne (1971) by Vijay Anand
8. Karachi, you’re killing me! By Saba Imtiaz – Noor by Sunhil Sippy
9. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Fitoor by Abhishek Kapoor
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë – Dil Diya Dard Liya by Abdur Rashid Kardar and Dilip Kumar 

Bollywood Movies Inspired by Novels – Indian writers.

Notable Bollywood movies inspired by Indian Novels are given below as Book–Film. 

1. The Guide by R. K. Narayan – Guide by Vijay Anand
2. Susanna’s seven husbands by Ruskin Bond – 7 Khoon Maaf by Vishal Bhardwaj
3. Saraswatichandra by Govardhanram Madhavaram Tripathi – Saraswatichandra by Govind Saraiya
4. Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – Mistress of Spices of Paul Mayeda Berges
5. Gaban by Munshi Premchand – Gaban by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
6. Calling Sehmat – Harinder Sikka – Raazi by Meghna Gulzar
7. The Namesake – Jhumpa Lahiri – The Namesake by Mira Nair
8. The Accidental Prime Minister by Sanjaya Baru – The Accidental Prime Minister by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte
9. Umrao Jaan Ada by Mirza Hadi Ruswa – Umrao Jaan by J. P. Dutta
10. Chokher Bali by Rabindranath Tagore – Chokher Bali: A Passion Play by Rituparno Ghosh 

Bollywood Novel inspired movies of Chetan Bhagat

Novels written by Chetan Bhagat adapted the most recent Bollywood movies. Chetan Bhagat is among the Indian authors who have most stories adapted into films. And they were a hit at the box office. His book adapted into films is given below as Book – Film. 

1.        One night at the call center – Hello

2.        Five Point Someone – 3 Idiots

3.        2 states – 2 states

4.        The three Mistakes of My Life – Kai Po Che

5.        Half Girlfriend- Half Girlfriend

Bollywood Novel inspired movies – A Timeless Classic

Devdas, the book written by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, is a timeless classic proven again and again, especially in Bollywood. Bollywood has repeatedly adapted this book into movies with a new generation of cast & crew. One could say that this is a tribute to Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s famous Novel, Devdas. The following is the list of times Devdas was adapted into movies.

1. Devdas (1928 – Hindi)
2. Devdas (1936 – Hindi)
3. Devdas (1955 – Hindi)
4. Devdas (2002 – Hindi)
5. Dev.D (2009 – Hindi)
6. Daas Dev (2018 – Hindi)

Bollywood Novel inspired movies – Critic’s favorites

Even though several novels have into Bollywood, some remained critics’ favorite choice movies. The list following as Book – Film

1. Parineeta – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay – Parineeta by Pradeep Sarkar
2. The Blue Umbrella – Ruskin Bond – The Blue Umbrella by Vishal Bhardwaj
3. The Last Leaf by O. Henry – Lootera by Vikramaditya Motwane
4. Sehab, Bibi Aur Golam by Bimal Mitra – Sahib, Biwi Aur Ghulam by Abrar Alvi
5. Pinjar by Amrita Pritam – Pinjar by Chandaraprakash Dwivedi
6. Black Friday – The True Story of Bombay Bomb Blasts – Anurag Kashyap – Black Friday by Hussain Zaidi
7. In Custody by Anita Desai – In Custody by Ismail Merchant
8. Satyakam by Narayam Sanyal – Satyakam by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
9. Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda by Dharmavir Bharti – Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda by Shyam Benegal
10. Mahabharat by Vyasa – Kalyug by Shyam Benegal 

Bollywood Novel inspired movies – Box Office Favorites

Not many novels adapted by Bollywood have made it to Box Office successfully. The following is the list of favorite box office movies as Book – Film.

1. A Flight of Pigeons by Ruskin Bond – Junoon by Shyam Benegal
2. Shatranj Ke Khiladi by Munshi Premchand – Shatranj Ke Khiladi by Satyajit Ray 
3. Raau by Nagnath S. Inamdar – Bajirao Mastani by Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Interestingly, many films failed at the box office even though the books were a success and the movie received critics’ praises. 

It is inspiring for aspiring writers to see novel-inspired movies that play well at the box office or get good critic reviews. It would be interesting to see more Bollywood movies inspired by novels do wonder and get the recognition they deserve in the future. 

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