Spoiler Alert
Film and TV adaptations of books can be disappointing. Over the years, I have learnt to manage my expectations. Or so I thought. But nothing prepared me for the utter disillusionment I felt on watching Mira Nair’s adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy on Netflix.
I read the book for the first, and only time, when it was published in the early 1990s, but it stayed with me. It’s a long read, to say the least, and I must confess that I had forgotten many details in the intervening years, but I did remember the atmosphere, the emotions it aroused, the quirks and charms of the characters, and, most of all, the sadness of the (anti-climactic) ending. One was around the same age as the heroine, and living in a similar milieu —1950s India compared to 1990s Pakistan as far as family life goes, it was similar and quite relatable and one just ‘got’ it.
Maybe it’s because one is older, or the times have changed, but the series just doesn’t ‘get’ the book, or so it seems to me. Lata (played by newcomer Tanya Maniktala), who is quietly observant and intense in the book, but with a wry sense of humor, has been portrayed as a giggly, flouncy girl who doesn’t seem to know her mind. In the book she thinks over what to do and ends up taking the path of least resistance — in part to annoy her overbearing elder brother, and in part because she’s just given up. But one gets the impression that she’s conscious of her capitulation, and there is a sense of resignation in the ending that is almost tragic. In the TV series, she’s played as your average desi girl weighing up options in the rishta scene, ticking off the usual boxes, and happily settling down to enjoy the joras and jewelry and the train ride to the new home, rather than follow her heart.
Mrs Rupa Mehra, Lata’s perpetually self-pitying, worry-wart of a mother, is played by Mahira Kakkar as some sort of a joke. Instead of a vaguely annoying, conventional woman, whom her children regard with amusement, but also love and protect, she’s played for laughs as the typical harassed ‘larki ki maan’ of Hindi films. Meenakshi who was supposed to be a bit flighty, but intelligent and quirky is played as an annoying brat by Shahana Goswami, who never manages to convince us that there’s anything to her other than the low-cut blouses. The only saving grace amongst the women is Tabu, who is too good an actress to mess up even in this lackluster production.
The men fare only slightly better. Kabir Durrani, played by Danesh Razvi looks the part and emotes well. Ishaan Khatter as Maan, the son of a local politician who falls in love with the older courtesan played by Tabu, overdoes the longing looks and the sheep eyes. His storyline is rushed through and leaves one with a bit of a ‘what happened there’ feeling.
or me personally the biggest disappointment is Amit. Supposedly based on Vikram Seth himself, in the book Amit is charming, witty and self-deprecating in just the right way. Part of the contrariness of the book is why Lata rejects him only to settle for the decidedly unromantic Haresh. In the series, one can understand why nobody would want to marry him. Mikhail Sen’s Amit is frivolous, conscious of his social superiority, and just plain insufferable. Out of this lot, Haresh does look like the best option, desi accent and boring clothes sense notwithstanding.
Safiya Aftab lives in Islamabad and loves to write.
