By Subhash K Jha
MUMBAI: The number of re-interpretations that Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess Of The D’Urbevilles has gone through in cinema would certainly puzzle the litterateur.
While director Michael Winterbottom’s film version of the Hardy novel entitled Trishna with Freida Pinto in the lead is far removed from the original text, now one has come to know that the Indian version of the Hardy classic – to be released in several Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu – is now going to be completely removed from what Winterbottom depicted in Trishna.
According to sources close to the project, “The Indian producer of Trishna, Sunil Bohra, has decided to completely re-vamp and re-edit the orginal. Trishna was a colossal flop in the West. Bohra sees a lot of potential in the story. He is re-structuring the film and adding an item song by Huma Qureshi.”
When contacted, Bohra, to his credit, didn’t deny the rumours of turning Winterbottom’s Thomas Hardy into a third entity altogether. “Trishna has great potential as a story of a brave girl’s fight against male tyranny. We love the way the director has re-located the original novel to Rajasthan and this is Freida Pinto’s Mother India.”
But Bohra feels the narrative is wrongly structured and he has changed it for the Indian release. “For the Indian release, we are starting the film where it actually ends in the international version. And then our story moves into a flashback.”
About the item song, Bohra clarifies, “There was always Huma Qureshi’s item number. But it was severely shortened in the international version. Now that we’re releasing the film in Hindi and several regional languages, we’ll now have the full-length item song by Huma.”
Errrr, has Mr Winterbottom been informed of these changes?
Shrugs Bohra, “I am sure he’ll love the changes. Besides I am one of the producers on the project.”
In brief, jisski laathi usski bhains.
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