The art of adaptation is becoming popular on the support of commercial theatre and private television networks in Pakistan. In some cases the name of the writer sells and in some it is the work itself that brings name, fame and money to the production company.
The work of adaptation of outstanding books into plays in Indo-Pakistan sub-continent generally has been developed on the pattern of work that is being done in the Western and Eastern Europe but it has a different dimension as well.
In this part of the world it is purely commercial than being artistic. The scriptwriter, in total disregard to the original situations, changes the setting of a story to suit the local environ, taste and the kind of hatred, love and affection that may bring the audience and the characters at a common meeting place. Emphasis is mostly on fictionalizing the entire theme of a book rather than maintaining the kind of nuances it contains to explain different situations, characters and their idiosyncrasies. The nuances that give the book its individuality should not be altered. It is part of ethics for adaptation. If there is any deviation from the ethical norms, with which a book or a novel should be treated, the unethical slip shadows the originality of the work and gives a new meaning to a situation that the writer might not have conceived.
Most favoured subjects for adaptation are historical accounts, biographical works, and classical novels and at times plays that form popular reading. Three European countries United Kingdom, France and Italy have excelled in the art of adaptation of this kind of subjects. The literary history of these three countries has surpassed many others in Europe. The adapted works of these three countries have always conformed to the principle of maintaining the artistic features of a book in tact.
The discerning audience that believes in preserving its past and keeping closer to its hearts its heritage has always been supportive of this kind of work in Europe. It has less to do with commercialism than with the ingenuity with which a new product of highest order of artistic beauty comes into being. Europe has a tradition of maintaining its traditional past and preserving its classical literary attitude.
In India and Pakistan this work is being done with purely commercial angle. Changes in the original manuscript are usually common to make it acceptable to the local audience. It is glamour, music and tone and tenor of dialogue delivery that make the first priority of a scriptwriter- a stale recipe for a commercially viable play.
Whatever may be its returns that an adaptation brings, it has its own place in the realm of creative writing. Besides being a commercial undertaking, it is a vehicle for the promotion of art and literature. It encourages people desirous of making a career in creative commercial writing. Many young men and women who are more inclined toward becoming a creative commercial writer and less inclined toward reading books realize that casual reading does not serve the purpose unless one opts for selective and focused reading of books on selected subjects. There is no short cut to this route to success. It widens the range of vision and provides ample opportunity for elaborate treatment of a subject otherwise casually dealt with in a book. In fact a series of books of different contemporary authors is the right route to be followed. This exercise makes a reader a rational and discreet thinker, if nothing else.
Though a discerning reader does not need visuals to perceive settings of a classical novel. An adapted play or a film based upon a classical novel or a book containing account of an historical event, has always been a welcome entertainment. Many people who come to know about a film or a play based upon a book being inaugurated at a theatre or on a TV network, prefer to purchase the book and read it before its filmed or televised version is put on show. And this is the art of commercial creative writing, which one learns from extensive reading.
Reading a book first and viewing a movie or watching a TV play afterward enhances the entertainment value of the production. It also creates a bond between the viewer and the product.
The adaptation also carries the risk of bringing into criticism the original work and exposing its weaknesses. There are a number of films and TV plays that were based upon best sellers and offered for public viewing from PTV. Partly the credit for such production goes to the original work and partly to the creator of auditory and visual sensation.
To recall a few films and TV plays for the pleasurable feel of the past is also a good past time. 'For Whom the Bell Tolls,' a novel by U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway widely viewed as Hemingway's most ambitious work, it is set during the Spanish Civil War and tells the story of Robert Jordan, a U.S. volunteer fighting for the Republicans, who falls in love with a fellow volunteer called Maria. Sam Woods made it into a movie in 1943. This film continued to remain a treat for the film enthusiasts for a long time when offered for viewing. Even after about 60 years the film continues to retain its freshness.
Of late there has been a spate of drama serials based upon popular English and Urdu novels that were either translated and converted into absorbing plays or were adapted for TV audience.
The conversion of short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, Umrao Jan Ada of Mirza Hadi Ruswa, Khuda Ki Basti of Shaukat Siddiqui, the adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James adapted as Dhund and My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier adapted as Tesra Kinara (both by Haseena Moean) and
The Women in White by Wilkie Collins adapted as Safaid Saya are few to name. These pays did well on the mini screen and provided family entertainment to housewives.
Despite weakness of understanding of the intricacies that go into the making of an English classical novel, many of our writers have done their jobs in a befitting manner. They have tried to maintain the theme and the setting of a story to great extent. What has been the spoiler of their work has been the conversion of Englishmen and women into Pakistani men and women. This change for those who have some introduction with English literature becomes a bit difficult to put up with.