OTT looks to books for inspiration

Mumbai, April 18  With OTT platforms experimenting with genres and content, there are a host of projects that are based on books.

Lately, we have already had the Parineeti Chopra-starrer “The Girl On The Train” that was based on Paula Hawkins’ bestseller of the same name. The Oscar-nominated film “The White Tiger” was based on Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize-winning book of the same name. The Riddhi Dogra-Monica Dogra-starrer web series “The Married Woman” is based on Manju Kapoor’s book of the same name.

Most filmmakers would tell you they prefer not to replicate the book on screen, but merely base their narrative on it.

Filmmaker Sahir Raza, for instance, insists he did not completely copy Manju Kapoor’s book while creating his web series. “It is such a different concept that most people would fall in love with it even when they read it on paper. That’s what happened to me. We have taken the backdrop of the book and the character and adapted it to our story. The show adds a lot of external situations and drama within the lines of the character,” Raza told IANS.

While situations and storylines might be altered, playing a character from the pages of a book is always challenging, says Parineeti.

“The biggest thing is that I wanted to reinvent myself and wanted to do work that was different from the rest of my work. These kinds of films put me in the homework zone. I couldn’t go without preparing and accessing a different side of me,” she said.

Here are a few notable shows that have been inspired from books:

COBALT BLUE

“Cobalt Blue” is a drama film that has been written and directed by Sachin Kundalkar. It is based on the debut novel of Kundalkar of the same name. The story revolves around a brother and a sister who happen to fall in love with the same person.

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Starring Parineeti Chopra, Kriti Kulhari, Aditi Rao Hydari and Avinash Tiwary, the film based on Paula Hawkins’ 2015 novel of the same name was released a while back, and received mixed reactions. The Ribhu Dasgupta film is a murder mystery and a psychological drama.

THE WHITE TIGER

Based on Aravind Adiga’s Man Booker Prize-winning novel, the film has received wide acclaim. Starring Adarsh Gourav, Priyanka Chopra and Rajkumaar Rao, the film is also executive-produced by Priyanka. The film’s Iranian-American writer-director Rami Bahrani has been nominated at the upcoming Oscars in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Bahrani was also nominated in the category at the recent BAFTAs, as was Adarsh Gourav as Lead Actor, but both of them lost out.

THE MARRIED WOMAN

The Monica Dogra and Riddhi Dogra-starrer web series is based on Manju Kapoor’s book of the same name. The series is about two women falling in love and the circumstances that lead to this.

UNTITLED SERIES based on THE BESTSELLER SHE WROTE

“The Bestseller She Wrote” is a novel by Ravi Subramanian, revolving around love, betrayal and redemption. It will reportedly star Mithun Chakraborty and Shruti Haasan.