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I completed the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy just in time for the movie. After the first Harry Potter movie experience I decided to read the books before I saw the movie. That way, my imagination remains intact and then even if the movie screws up, you still have the images in your head from the book. Chances are that, after you read the book, the movie becomes a more enjoyable experience because mentally you are constantly comparing the imagery the book conjured to the visuals on the screen. The plot isn’t a big secret; book adaptations aren’t really a Sixth Sense kind of movies so you can sit back and enjoy the movie experience without getting too involved in the plotline.
Fans of the book usually flock to the theaters first and word-of-mouth takes on from there, sometimes even expanding the fan base leading more people to read the book after they see the movie. Books never die out or go out of print, especially the small-niche classics. Tolkien fans single-handedly spread the buzz about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I have never seen a trend in the adapted screenplays. The courtroom dramas a la John Grisham find as big as an audience as the sci-fi movies with the razzmatazz of visual graphics do. Is the concept of original screenplay dying? Isn’t anyone, apart from Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich fame), writing decent screenplays specifically for movies? Someone should do some basic research on whether movies with an adapted or original screenplay make a difference at the box office? I might think it might make more economic sense to write a book, reap royalty rewards, and then sell the movie rights for even more money.
Bollywood movies sadly do not borrow much from books (exceptions being Devdas, Choker Bali, etc.). But then again, I don’t see Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, DDLJ or even Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as books (argh!); they would be mighty boring melodramatic reads.
More about the book in a short while.
by Patrix | on Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 at 11:00 am | 
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April 26th, 2005 at 1:29 pm reply
Bollywood movies and screenplay have nothing to do with each other. There is only one plot with a few diversions. They just decide if they want to make a comedy or a drama and then make it on the fly. At least that is what Om Puri said in an interview on NPR a few years ago.
April 26th, 2005 at 4:50 pm reply
Parag - I guess I just shouldn’t expect it. But kay karu, Hollywood-Bollywood comparisons are inevitable.
April 28th, 2005 at 5:00 am reply
Patrix,
The book(s) are excellent, and if you can, you should try and get hold of the original radio show and the old BBC television series.
I happened to glance at the latest imprint of the series (movie tie-in version)…it has all those photos of the main characters. The name Zaphod Breeblebrox conjures a different mental imagery than the photo of the actor who plays that role. What do you think Slartibartfast should look like?
Just like Rama and Krishna now bring Arun Govil and Nitish Bharadwaj’s face to mind, and, before that Ram Waeerkar’s ACK cartoons.
April 28th, 2005 at 5:06 am reply
What you said about losing your mental images of the book is very true, the movie sort of screws up the book for you.
April 28th, 2005 at 4:55 pm reply
Nitin - One of my Google Ads was showing me a site selling the audio version. I’ll try it out sometime. Slartibartfast….hmmmm…somehow I think of Getafix from Asterix and Obelix or even Gandalf for that matter.
Tarun - I guess it has done it to you few times, eh? Which book turned movies screwed it up for you?
April 29th, 2005 at 5:51 am reply
Patrix,
In the BBC TV version of HHGTG, Slartibartfast does look like Getafix. Douglas Adams worked closely with the producers, so we can assume that is what the author intended him to look like.
I think a clean shaven Slartibartfast is offensive to civilised sensibilities.
April 29th, 2005 at 12:42 pm reply
Nitin - I haven’t seen the detailed previews. I don’t want to spoil anything. But Slartibartfast better not be clean shaven.