THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: 'Aadujeevitham', which struck gold at the State awards this year, brewed in the simmer for 16 years. The scripting, which started around 10 years ago, and shooting some six years. To transform the 2008 Benyamin bestseller that went through 100 reprints into a survival drama that had a stellar cast and crew line-up would have been quite a task.
And hence Anand Ekarshi, raking in bliss of the national award win for 'Attam', says 'Aadujeevitam's adaptation into a film is an achievement for which Blessy deserves more than an applause. "Making a movie out of novel is a task unimaginable. It is not the same as with a short story.
To showcase the mental journeys undertaken by novels is difficult and hence films can hardly reach the spaces that a novel can. But it is heartening to see good literary works even in the form of short stories now being made into movies," he says. Even with the confidence of making a movie work into such a success, Anand says he would think twice before embarking on to use novel as a source for films.
"There are several works that I am in awe of. Like Khasakinte Itihasam. But to make it into a film is not easy.
It would require different tools of filmmaking. And a precision that would require a perceptive that can do justice to the work even while making it appealing for the audience," he says. When it comes to translating literary works into movies, the audience is a huge guiding factor, says R Shyamaprasad, whose 'Agnisakshi' based on.