Romeo & Juliet in Hindi Cinema

 

William Shakespeare's 1590s play Romeo and Juliet has been adapted to film many times in almost all the languages of the world. The first time it was adapted into a film was in 1911  It was directed by Barry O'Neil (USA). In India, it was in 1947 that Romeo & Juliet appeared on-screen by Nargis Art Concern directed by Akhtar Hussain, the roles played by Sapru and Nargis.

Almost after 30 years, it was adapted ( Maro Charitra ) in the Telugu language written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan and Saritha in the lead.The film dealt with a cross-cultural romance between a Tamil boy and a Telugu girl. Upon release, it was commercially successful and remains a cult classic. Three years later the Hindi version of  Maro Charitra as ,'Ek Duje Ke Liye'( 1981),   directed once again by K Balachandra was released. with Kamal Haasan reprising his role. the female lead, was, however, replaced by actress Rati Agnihotri. The Hindi remake became a success as well.

 Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988); was the next Hindi film adapted on Romeo & Juliet a long-standing blood feud between two families is complicated when the son of one falls in love with the daughter of the other; directed by Mansoor Khan (India). The film was a super hit.

Saudagar (1991) was another successful film adapted from the great play by the producer-director Subhash Ghai. The role of Romeo & Juliet was played by Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala. The role of Mandhaari was somewhat similar to Friar Laurence of Romeo and Juliet

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (2013) is another super-hit adaptation of Romeo and Juliet , directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Bhansali called it a "desi adaptation" of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet

Song of Romeo Juliet 1947   Audio only

Song of Ek Duje Ke Liye 1981

Song of Quamat Se Quamat Tak 1988

Song of Saudagar 1991

Song of Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (2013)

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