Published By: Sayan Paul

Best Bollywood films that were adapted from books

Check out the list of best Bollywood movies based on books.

Although books and movies are two completely different medium, there's one thing common between them and that is storytelling. So when a book is adapted into a movie, people start debating whether the storytelling is better in movie or in the book. However, books have always been a great inspiration for filmmakers to make movies. Here, let's take a look at some of the best Bollywood movies that were adapted from books.

  1. Shakespeare trilogy: Shakespeare and Vishal Bhardwaj is a deadly combination that we all love. Bhardwaj's 'Shakespeare trilogy’, which includes 'Maqbool' (2003), 'Omkara' (2006) and 'Haider' (2014) are based on 'Macbeth', 'Othello' and 'Hamlet' respectively. All the three films are treat to watch and considered as the best Shakespeare adaptations in Bollywood.
  2. Kohraa (1964): Directed by Biren Nag, the film is adapted from the 1938 novel 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier. The film tells the story of a woman who is triggered by the ghost of her husband's late wife.
  3. Guide (1965): Based on R. K. Narayanan's novel 'The Guide', the film tells the story of a tourist guide and an unhappy married woman and how they develop love between each other.
  4. Masoom (1983): Based on the novel 'Man, Woman and Child' by Erich Sehgal, 'Masoom' revolves around a family that goes through a lot of troubles because of a mistake done by a family member.
  5. Devdas (2002): Sharatchandra Chattapadhay's classic novel 'Devdas' has been adapted several times by many filmmakers, but the most popular among them is the 2002 adaptation, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and starring Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Madhuri Dixit in lead roles.
  6. The Namesake (2006): Based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel with the same name, 'The Namesake' stars Irrfan Khan and Tabu in lead roles, and it revolves around a Bengali family settled in America.
  7. 3 idiots (2009): Based on Chetan Bhagat's best-selling novel 'Five Point Someone', '3 idiots' is arguably the best Indian movie on student life and it shows several issues that are present in Indian education system.
  8. Lootera (2013): Loosely based on O. Henry's short story 'The Last Leaf', 'Lootera' is a beautiful romantic drama with a lot of twists. With brilliant cinematography, outstanding music and top notch performances from both the lead actors, the film is a cinematic gem and it looks like a visual poetry.
  9. Kai Po Che (2013): Directed by Abhishek Kapoor and based on Chetan Bhagat's novel 'Theee mistakes of my life', the film revolves around three friends and it talks about life, friendship, love, sports, politics and several other social issues.
Also 'Junoon', 'Shatranj Ke Khiladi', 'Gaban', 'Parineeta', 'The Blue Umbrella', ‘2 States’ are some of the finest Bollywood films that were adapted from books.