Bollywood Films Based on Great Indian Novels

 

It is said that literature may or may not need films, but films undoubtedly need good literature. Many great films were made in great literature. Devdas was one such film based on Sharat Chandra Chatterji's novel Devdas. It is the most filmed non-epic story in India. 

There has been always a debate for book lovers, A book is better or a film is better? the very idea of seeing their favorite novel or work of literature turned into a movie is simply unacceptable.to many. Cinema is altogether a different media, Here the imagination of a director and cinematographic effects of the photographer and the screenplay can create an outstanding film.

Many great Hindi filmmakers like Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Basu Chatterjee, and Vijay Anand have made films from great novels. If we look into today's filmmakers, we find Raju Hirani and Vishal Bhardwaj follow these great filmmakers.

Here are a few notable film versions of the great novels.

Chitralekha 

Song of Chitralekha 1941

It is a 1941 Indian Hindi-language film, directed by Kidar Sharma and based on the 1934 Hindi novel of the same name by Bhagwati Charan Verma. Its music is by noted classical musician Ustad Jhande Khan, giving popular songs like "Sun sun Neelkamal Muskaye,"It was the second-highest-grossing Indian film of 1941. This was the debut of actor Bharat Bhushan, who later achieved fame with Baiju Bawra (1952)  It was remade by Sharma in 1964, also titled Chitralekha, starring Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar.

Milan

Song of Milan  1946

 It was a 1946 Hindi drama film directed by Nitin Bose. The film starred Dilip Kumar, Mira Misra, Ranjana, Pahari Sanyal, and Moni Chatterjee. It was an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's 1906 Bengali story Noukadubi (The Wreck). The screenplay adaptation was done by Sajanikanta Das with dialogues translated into Hindi by Pyare Lal Santoshi.

Parineeta 

Song of Parineeta  1953

It was a 1953 Indian Hindi-language drama film starring Ashok Kumar and Meena Kumari, based upon the 1914 Bengali novella of the same name by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The film was directed by Bimal Roy. This version of the film is considered by many to be the most faithful adaptation of the novel.

Devdas

Song of Devdas 1955

It was a 1955  film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel Devdas. He was only 17 years of age when he wrote this novel in Bengali. The film had Dilip Kumar in the title role, Suchitra Sen in her Bollywood debut as Parvati 'Paro' and Vyjayanthimala in her first dramatic role where she played Chandramukhi, a courtesan. Motilal, Nazir Hussain, Murad, Pratima Devi, Iftekhar, and S Shivraj were playing other significant roles with Pran and Johnny Walker in extended cameo appearances.Many versions of Devdas in many Indian languages are made from time to time.

Kabuliwala 

Song of Kaabuliwala 1961

It was. a 1961 film based on the 1892 short story "Kabuliwala", by the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. It was directed by Hemen Gupta and starred Balraj Sahni, Usha Kiran, Sajjan, Sonu, and Baby Farida. Hemen Gupta had remained private secretary to Subhas Chandra Bose, and went on to direct many films including Taksaal (1956), also starring Balraj Sahni, and his tribute Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (1966). 

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 

Song of  Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam  1962

It was a 1962 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Abrar Alvi. It is based on the 1953 Bengali novel, Saheb Bibi Golam by Bimal Mitra, and is a look into the tragic fall of the haveli-dom and feudalism in Bengal during the British Raj. The film stars Meena Kumari, Guru Dutt, Rehman, and Waheeda Rehman. The film was a major critical and commercial success, with critics attributing it to Meena Kumari's performance as Chhoti Bahu.

Godaan

Song of Godaan 1963

This is a very heart touching movie based on Munshi Premchand's novel "Godaan". Released in 1963 starring Raj Kumar, Kamini Kaushal, and Shashikala The book was published in 1937;.. It is counted among the greatest novels written in Hindi.

Meri Surat Teri Ankhen 

Song of Meri Surat Teri Ankhen 1963

It was a 1963 Bollywood film starring Ashok Kumar, Asha Parekh, and Pradeep Kumar. It is based on the Bengali novel Ulka by Nihar Ranjan Gupta.

Guide 

Song of Guide 1965

It was a 1965 Indian romantic drama film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the 1958 novel The Guide, by R. K. Narayan. Guide was highly successful at the box-office upon release.^[3] It went on to become a Bollywood classic and proved to be memorable for its highly acclaimed performances by the lead actors and memorable music by S. D. Burman. Time magazine listed it at #4 on its list of Best Bollywood Classics.

Teesri Kasam

Song of Teesri Kasam 1966

 It was a 1966 film directed by Basu Bhattacharya and produced by lyricist Shailendra. It is based on the short story Mare Gaye Gulfam, by the Hindi novelist Phanishwarnath Renu. The film stars Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman. Teesri Kasam was an unconventional film that portrays rural Indian society. It is the story of a naive bullock cart driver Hiraman, who falls in love with Hirabai, a dancer at a nautanki. 

Gaban

Song of Gaban 1966

It was a 1966 Hindi film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, based on Munshi Premchand's classic novel by the same name. It had Sunil Dutt and Sadhna playing the lead role. 

Kaajal

Song of Kaajal 1965

It was a 1965 Bollywood film produced by Pannalal Maheshwari and directed by Ram Maheshwari. The film stars Meena Kumari, Dharmendra, Raaj Kumar, Padmini, Helen, Durga Khote, Tun Tun, Mehmood, and Mumtaz.i.The film was adapted from Gulshan Nanda's novel "Maadhavi" by Phani Majumdar with Kidar Sharma writing the dialogues. The film was declared as a "Hit" at Box office 

Safar 

Song of Safar 1970

It was a 1970 Indian Hindi film produced by the Mushir-Riaz duo and directed by Asit Sen, based on a novel by Bengali writer Ashutosh Mukherjee. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, and Feroz Khan in lead roles. The film became the tenth top-grossing production of the year.Asit Sen remade the 1956 Bengali film Chalachal, which was directed by him.

Khushboo

Song of Khushboo 1975

It was a 1975 Hindi-language drama film, produced by Prasan Kapoor under the Tirupati Pictures banner, presented by Jeetendra and directed by Gulzar. It stars Jeetendra, Hema Malini, and music composed by R. D. Burman. The film is based on the Bengali novel Panditmashai, by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, which was earlier filmed in Bengali in 1951 by Naresh Mitra.

Shatranj Ke Khilari 

Song of Shatranj Ke Khilari  1977

It was a 1977 Indian film written and directed by Satyajit Ray, based on Munshi Premchand's short story of the same name. Amjad Khan plays the role of Wajid Ali Shah, King of Awadh, and Richard Attenborough play the role of General James Outram. The film also features the actors Sanjeev Kumar, Saeed Jaffrey, Shabana Azmi, David Abraham, and Tom Alter, as well as Amitabh Bachchan as the narrator. This is the first Hindi feature film of filmmaker Satyajit Ray and second, being 'Sadgati'- another adaptation of Premchand's short story

Ek Chadar Maili Si

It is a 1986 film, directed by Sukhwant Dhadda, and is an adaptation of Rajinder Singh Bedi's classic Urdu novella by the same name. The novel won the 1965 Sahitya Akademi Award. The film stars Hema Malini, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rishi Kapoor and Poonam Dhillon in lead roles.

Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa '

It was an a1998, feature film that deals with the life of a woman who loses her son, a Naxalite, to the violence that is a result of his adopted ideology. The film was directed by Govind Nihalani and is based on Magsaysay and Jnanpith award recipient Mahasweta Devi's Bengali 1974 novel Hajar Churashir Maa 

KHEMCHAND PRAKASH- A Forgotten Genius

Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1949) is immortal to the music lovers who like old Bollywood songs. Very few of us know that greats like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Manna Dey, and Bulo C Rani were mentored by him. But the creator of these musical gems and the mentor of this league of stalwarts is now largely forgotten. On his Death Anniversary, I pay my tribute to this great composer who composed the song Aayega Aane Wala Aayega sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

He got his training of music from his father Pt. Goverdhan Prasad was a renowned Dhrupad singer who received royal patronage and sang in the Jaipur Durbar. Khemchand was not only a trained classical singer but also mastered the Rajasthani folk music and trained as a Kathak dancer. Once the king of Nepal was in Jaipur, he saw him performing there, invited him to come to his Kingdom. He went there and spent 5 years in Nepal.

 The destiny landed him in Kolkata and he joined the legendary New Theaters. While working in New Theatres, he had a chance encounter with Prithviraj Kapoor, and they became lifelong friends. At his suggestion, Khemchand Prakash moved to Bombay along with Kidar Sharma, KN Singh, and last but not the least, the much-celebrated KL Saigal.

He was assistant to composer Timir Baran in Devdas (1935 film), and he sang a comedy song 'lo kha lo madam khaanaa' in Street Singer (1938). He made his debut as music director in 1939 with Supreme Pictures' films Meri Aankhein and Gazi Salauddin and was soon signed up by Ranjit Movietone Film Studio.

In this film, the great music director Naushad was his assistant. Khemchand Prakash used the Arabic style of orchestration to synchronise the ambience of the subject. He also composed Mirza Ghalib's famed ghazal, 'Kabhi neki bhi uske jee mein gar,' in Kalyani's voice. He got another offer for Dwarka Khosla's Meri Aankhein, wherein singer-actor Khursheed got her maiden break and sang 'Aisa geet suna jao' and 'Sach ke khel khilaye aasha,' 'Doodh piyo sab doodh'. These two films established Khemchand and in times to come, he gave classical gems to music lovers. Khursheed was his leading singer and both of them gave many hits of the early 40s. 

Khemchand tasted real success when he joined Ranjit Movietone and accomplished nineteen films during his five-year stint. His films, Pardesi and Shaadi became hits. Pardesi had a ghazal, 'Pahle jo Mohabbat se inkar kiya hota' (Khursheed), which became an instant rage. It is said that Khursheed rehearsed this ghazal for fifteen days before recording it.

 His biggest hit with Ranjit Studio was the film Tansen in 1943. Songs like "Diya jalaao jagmag jagmag", "Rumjhum rumjhum chal tihari", "More balpan ke saathi", "Sapt suran teen gram", "Hath sine pe jo rakh do to karara aa jaaye" were big hits. It is said that he played a key role in classic songs of Devdas( 1935) sung by KL Saigal: 'Balam aayo baso morey man mein' and 'Dukh ke din ab beetat nahin'. He also did cameo roles in New Theatres' films, and this song, 'Madam lo kha lo khana,' in Street Singer, was picturized on him and Kanan Devi. He was also seen in Debki Bose's Sapera.

After Tansen, the next film he did was Bhanwra (1944), starring K L Saigal. Khemchand Prakash offered a totally different type of music in Bhanwara, as evident in its compositions: 'Thukra rahi hai duniya,' 'Muskratey huey aankh churaya na karo,' 'Hum apna unhey bana na sakey,' 'Diya jisney dil' (Saigal), and a duet with Ameerbai Karnataki, 'Kya humne bigara hai,' became super hits.

Another classic of Khemchand Prakash was' Bhartihari' released in 1944, starring Surendra and Mumtaz Shanti. His compositions were once again in classical mode: 'Chanda des piya ke jaa' (Ameerbai Karnataki), and a duet in a dialogue form, 'Bhiksha de de maa pingla' (Surendra-Ameerbai Karnataki), became a listeners delight.

Prabhu Ka Ghar (1945) was the last film he composed music for Ranjeet Movietone, the same year his movie Dhanna Bhagat directed by Kidar Sharma had 'Panchhi pinjara hua purana' (Khan Mastana), that also became quite popular. He had differences with the owner Chandu Lal Shah of  Ranjeet Movietone on the issue of using a new voice in a film. Chandu Lal Shah didn't agree and outright rejected the new voice. The new voice was that of Lata Mangeshkar. Thereafter, Khemchand Prakash started freelancing.

As a freelancer his significant film was Kishore Sahu's silver jubilee 'Sindoor'(1947) with such unforgettable numbers: 'Kissi Ke Madhur Pyaar Mein' (Nasim Akthar-Sushil Sahu), and Ameerbai's solo, 'O Roothey Huey Bhagwan'

1948 marked yet another significant film of his career, Bombay Talkies’s Ziddi. He gave first major break to Kishore Kumar as a singer for the song "Marne ki duaaen kyun maangu".Ziddi featured a beautiful song of Lata Mangeshkar "Chanda re ja re ja re".Lata sang for him for the first time in Asha released in 1948.

Kishore Sahu had Khemchand in his own home production 'Rimjhim'. He composed a rare gem for Kishore, 'Jagmag jagmag karta nikla chaand poonam ka pyaara' This film also had a super hit number in Shamshad's voice, 'Na tum aaye na neend aayi'. Kishore Sahu and Khemchand again came together in Sawan Aya Re, which had all-time greats of Rafi-Shamshad, 'Aye dil na mujhe yaad dila baatein purani.'In the same year released the film Mahal, its song 'Aayega Aane Wala' became a hit and made Lata a household name. The film and its music became a super hit, unfortunately, Khemchan Prakash died before the release of this film. He died at an early age of 41 on 10 August 1949 due to Cirrhosis.

Song of Street Singer 1938

Song of Tansen 1943

Song of Bhartrahari 1944

Song of  Dhanna Bhagat 1945

Song of Sindoor 1947

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Mahal 1949

Song of Rimjhim 1949