Book: The White Tiger
Author: Aravind Adiga
Plot: The book traces the transformation of a certain Balram Halwai, from an honest son of a rickshaw-puller in rural India to a deadly murderer in the big city.
Trivia: Adiga won the Man Booker Prize last year for the novel, edging past Amitav Ghosh for Sea of Poppies. Though it hasn’t been particularly well received in India, its black humour and action-packed plot should work well on screen.
Proposed cast and crew: Given the way he adapted a book like Black Friday into such a balanced cinematic work, Anurag Kashyap could make a great film out of The White Tiger. Only an actor of Irrfan Khan’s calibre can pull off a Balram Halwai.
Movie Title: Balram Halwai
Book: The Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
Plot: The Booker Prize-winning story of 16-year-old Pi Patel from Pondicherry is a brilliantly imaginative question on faith. That’s what makes the 2002 book so cinematic and a perfect source for celluloid. Pi’s two versions of his story of surviving the sea — one where he encounters wild animals and the other where he fights off fellow humans —are both allegorical and insightful.
Trivia: Everybody from Manoj Night Shyamalan to Alfonso Cuaron wanted to make Life of Pi for the big screen but the plans never crystallised. Last heard, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie) is slated to direct the film.
Proposed cast and crew: The film would need a whole lot of special effects and so SRK’s Red Chillies should be perfect to handle the technical work. Tanay Chheda, who played Darsheel’s young friend Rajan Damodaran in Taare Zameen Par and also plays Jamal’s younger version in Slumdog Millionaire, should be perfect for the part of Pi, the precocious son of a zookeeper.
Movie Title: Pi ki Kahaani
Book: The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Mark Haddon
Plot: A 15-year-old autistic child is accused of killing his neighbour’s dog. In his investigation to find the real killer, the boy discovers that his father has been lying to him about his mother. What follows is an arduous journey to the big city to find his mother.
Trivia: A film was planned by Warner Bros. in association with Brad Pitt’s company Plan B Entertainment, but the project hasn’t taken off. Portuguese songwriter Vitor Cunha has written a song inspired by the book.
Proposed cast and crew:With the important sub-plot of the mother writing letters for her child to read later in life, this adaptation has to be helmed by the Kuch Kuch man Karan Johar. Darsheel Safary (13) would be perfect as the traumatised kid with an indefatigable spirit. If Shah Rukh is producing the film, he can play the father who has his own reasons for keeping secrets from his son. Rani Mukerji can have a cameo as the mother.
Movie Title: Kkutta Kkameena
Book: Animal’s People
Author: Indra Sinha
Plot: Set in the slums of Bhopal, the film traces the despair of Animal, a man who used to be human before a chemical accident left him twisted.
Trivia: Animal’s People was shortlisted for the Booker in 2007.
Proposed cast and crew: Dev Patel will make an excellent Animal given the way he has used his physicality in Slumdog Millionaire. Sonam Kapoor can play Nisha, his love interest, in this Vishal Bhardwaj film.
Movie Title: Daanav
Book: The Zoya Factor
Author: Anuja Chauhan
Plot: Zoya Singh Solanki was born at the exact moment when India won the 1983 World Cup. In this cricket-crazed country, she is not only adopted as the Indian cricket team’s lucky charm, she is hailed as a goddess. But Zoya has other things on her mind in this masala tale about love and luck.
Trivia: Thirty-eight-year-old Anuja has worked in advertising for over 14 years.
Proposed cast and crew: With Mandira flopping as Meerabai, Deepika Padukone can take a shot at cricketing glory on celluloid, given her sporting genes. Farah Khan can direct this movie, also starring Neil Nitin Mukesh as India’s cricket captain.
Movie Title: Zoya! Zoya! Zoya!
Book: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Author: Mohsin Hamid
Plot: One of the most accomplished works on post-9/11 U.S., written from the point of view of a Pakistani. This dramatic novel revolves around Changez and his love-hate relationship with America and the world.
Trivia: Hamid’s Moth Smoke is being adapted by Rahul Bose.
Proposed cast and crew: This should be Aamir Khan’s next directorial venture, a direct cinematic translation of his anti-terrorism thought process. He would obviously play the lead as well.
Movie Title: Aakhri Changez
Book: Sacred Games
Author: Vikram Chandra
Plot: The cat-and-mouse game between policeman Sartaj Singh and underworld don Ganesh Gaitonde encompasses many stories — of love, of betrayal, of murder...
Trivia: Vikram is the brother-in-law of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and was one of the writers of the Mission Kashmir screenplay.
Proposed cast and crew: Best suited for a big Bollywood thriller, this adaptation can have Saif Ali Khan as Ganesh the don and Abhishek Bachchan as the cop. Ram Gopal Varma will be the first choice as director, given Mumbai’s importance in the story.
Movie Title: Khallas
Book: Vernon God Little
Author: DBC Pierre
Plot: A book which examines the structure of a society that prompts a 15-year-old boy to gun down 16 of his schoolmates. The boy commits suicide and his friend has to flee town.
Trivia: Pierre’s debut novel was the winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize. Before he became a writer, Pierre was a conman.
Proposed cast and crew: Imran Khan should take another shot at playing the boy hero after Kidnap. The film should be directed by Madhur Bhandarkar in yet another expose on the workings of the young mind.
Movie Title: Youngistan Meri Jaan
Book: Bunker 13
Author: Aniruddha Bahal
Plot: An ex-army officer with a penchant for rare drugs and rough sex becomes an investigative journalist in a tale encompassing espionage, Russian mobsters and nuclear missiles.
Trivia: Bahal himself was an investigative journalist and now has his own show on Channel [V].
Proposed cast and crew: Naseeruddin Shah will play the protagonist in this hard-hitting film, to be directed by Rajat Kapoor (Mithya).
Movie Title: Khalbali
Book: The Calcutta Chromosome
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Plot: A medical thriller, a futuristic science-fiction novel, the book works on many levels.
Trivia: The book won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1997, which is given to the best sci-fi novel of the year.
Proposed cast and crew: Given its scope and vivid imagery, Calcutta Chromosome will be done justice by an international production, to be helmed by someone like Farhan Akhtar. George Clooney’s striking resemblance to Ronald Ross makes him a natural choice with Kay Kay Menon, Ranvir Shorey and Om Puri part of the elaborate ensemble cast.
Movie Title: The Calcutta Chromosome
Which book should be adapted in Bollywood? Tell us at t2@abpmail.com
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