From page to screen: should films based on books stay faithful to their source? Premium

whether movies based on books should stay true to the source material

People across age groups watched the blockbuster that was Ponniyin Selvan: I. A big chunk of this also included the book fans, who, we can safely assume (going by the box-office numbers), were satisfied with Mani Ratnam’s screen translation of Kalki’s work.

A few of them, however, accused Ratnam of altering the essence of the books. The characters, they said, were robbed of their nuances. The following were some of the common gripes — Aditha Karikalan comes across as a jilted lover in the film, whereas in the books, he is a different character altogether; Alwarkadiyan, a super spy in the books, was reduced to being just comic relief; Aniruddha Brahmarayar, a central character in the story, was barely present in the film; and Poonkuzhali, depicted as a fierce tigress in the books, appeared tame on-screen.

Adapting a book, especially a famous one, into a film has always been tricky. The Harry Potter film franchise, despite earning $7.7 billion at the box office, also received criticism from some fans for not remaining faithful to the source material and leaving out several important/ favourite scenes, as well as curtailing character development due to the lack of screen-time.

For example, several fans especially took exception to how Lord Voldemort’s iconic death scene from the books played out on-screen: “In the books, he dies a very normal, human death. The whole point was that this mighty, megalomaniac wizard just died mortally. But in the film, he just evaporates into the air like it’s some dandruff shampoo ad!”

Now, taking this into account, HBO Max is developing a live-action series based on author J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The upcoming project will feature a new cast, and each season will be devoted to one of Rowling’s books. The plan is for the show to unfold over 10 years.

It can be argued that films should stay true to the books as much as possible. After all, fans of the book are likely to be the main audience for the film adaptation, and they have certain expectations about how the story and characters should be portrayed on screen. Deviating too far from the source material can lead to backlash from fans.

But books and films are two distinct mediums of storytelling, each with its own set of strengths and limitations. What works on the page may not necessarily work on screen. Books allow for more introspection and internal monologues from characters, which can be tough to translate to the visual medium of film. Therefore, changes to the story or characters may be necessary to make the story more cinematic and engaging.