The Guide by RK Narayan
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International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 845-849 The Guide By R.K. Narayan: An Adaptation From Novel To Film Dr. Jyoti Syal, Assistant Professor,Department of Humanities, Maharishi Markandeshwar Deemed to be University, Mullana, Ambala. Abstract Adaptation in the film industry is not a new concept. History abounds with examples that almost three-fourths of all films ever made are the adaptions from novels, plays or short stories borrowed from the classic literature in every language. Our Indian film industry is of no exception. Right from the beginning till date, it has been coming up with a good number of super hit films, which are an adaption of a famous novel or play or a short story of either regional, Indian or a foreign author. It is often said that the printed text is superior to the filmed version in one way or the other. But at the same time, it is equally true that a film director is not bound to copy the original text form as it is. He has every right to eliminate or add some characters and incidents which may or may not be a part of original text form. The filmmaker not only adds or eliminates some incidents from the original text, but also makes some major changes. This he does so that he can cater to the taste of all sorts of public. He has to compress even the lengthiest novel or story into maximum of three hours. Vijay Anand’s ‘Guide’ takes one hundred and seventy minutes to present Narayan’s story of two hundred and forty seven pages. The objective of this paper is to focus on such adaptation – the adaptation of R.K.Narayan’s ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ winning novel The Guide to Vijay Anand’s film ‘Guide’. This paper is also an humble attempt to trace the changes made by the director of the film, Vijay Anand and to show how these changes made the film a grand success and received several awards and recognition. A film, which is remembered for its creative direction by Vijay Anand and for the outstanding performance by actors Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. Keywords: adaption, classic literature, film industry, Guide. Introduction Adaptation in the film industry is not a new concept. History abounds with examples that almost three-fourths of all films ever made are the adaptions from novels, plays or short stories borrowed from the classic literature in every language. Our Indian film industry is of no exception. Right from the beginning till date, it has been coming up with a good number of super hit films, which are an adaption of a famous novel or a play or a short story of either regional, Indian or a foreign author. We can take example of the famous movie ‘Devdas’ (1917), which has been adapted from a Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. The novel has been filmed not only in Bengali or Hindi but also in various Indian regional languages like Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese and Malayalam. The main objective of the present paper is to focus on such an adaptation – the adaptation of the eminent Indian English writer R.K.Narayan’s heart touching English novel The Guide (1958) which was adapted to a Hindi movie in 1965. The movie is still remembered for its excellent direction by Vijay Anand and for the outstanding performance by actors Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. R. K. Narayan has deservedly come to be regarded as a pioneer of the Indian novel in English. He has endeared himself to millions of readers throughout the world, because of his impassioned blend of profound and comic vision. He has an uncanny capacity for empathizing with the common masses in a realistic manner. His art of story telling enabled him to carry the tradition of great writers to new heights. He not only interpreted the soul of India, the real India of the villages to the West, but also convincingly ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 845 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 845-849 made known to the colonial rulers, the religious, moral and spiritual heritage of India. What gives Narayan, a distinctive place in the Postcolonial Indian English Literature, is the great importance he attaches to his vocation as a writer. Rashipuram Krishnaswami Narayan was one of those creative writers who made a living out of their creative writing. He struggled very hard to establish himself as a man of letters. Narayan, born in 1906 in Madras is a well known novelist of the twentieth century India. He made his first appearance on the literary horizon with the publication of Swami and Friends (1935) and has fifteen novels to his credit. His literary output is rich and varied. He wrote fifteen novels, multiple volumes of short stories, collections of non-fiction, English translation of Indian epics, and the memoirs My Days and My Dateless Diary. There are a number of literary awards and distinctions to his credit. As is stated earlier, he received the Sahitya Academy Award for The Guide in 1961. Padma Bhushan was awarded to him in 1964. The University of Leeds honored him with a degree of D.Litt. in 1967, which Delhi University followed in 1973. He was nominated as Fellow, Royal Society of literature; Fellow, Sahitya Academy and Member, Rajya Sabha. He earned high acclaim in India and abroad. M. K. Naik, a well-known critic, makes a general opinion that “The Financial Expert, together with The Guide and The Man-Eater of Malgudi constitute the cream of Narayan’s fiction . because irony develops from merely a useful technique into an all-embracing vision of life.” (The 44). Prof. William Walsh’s comments are worth noted when he writes: “Perhaps the most remarkable example of the difficult genre—the serious comedy—to which R. K. Narayan’s novels belong is The Guide (1958).” (Commonwealth 14). He further writes: “It is not only his best novel but the one in which his characteristic qualities show themselves most clearly.” (Commonwealth 14). K. R. S. Iyengar rightly says: “He is one of the few writers of India who take their craft seriously, constantly striving to improve the instrument, pursuing with a sense of dedication what may often seem to be the mirage of technical perfection. There is a norm of excellence below which Narayan cannot possibly lower himself.”(359). The novel, The Guide, is an autobiography of Raju who rises from an humble origin and becomes a successful tourist guide in Malgudi. Raju’s life is based on a series of self-deceptions which ultimately leads the character down a road of confusion, loss of self, and then to spiritual transformation and awakening. As a tourist guide, he is unprincipled, spontaneous and self-indulgent but after his imprisonment, and after his unwilling transformation into a holy man, he is careful, solicitous, and self-disciplined. The setting of The Guide, as most of Narayan’s novels, is Malgudi—the fictional town in Southern India. Raju, the protagonist, grows up near a railway station, becomes a shopkeeper, and then tactful tourist guide. He meets Rosie, an attractive traditional dancer, and her husband, whom Raju calls Marco. Marco is a scholar and an anthropologist, who is more interested in his research than his wife. Rosie and Marco hire Raju as a tourist guide. Rosie wants to see king cobra dancing and go shopping whereas Marco always remains detached to his wife. While Marco is busy with his archaeological studies, Raju seduces Rosie and has a good time with her. Finally when Marco comes to know of the affair, he returns to Madras leaving Rosie behind in Malgudi. Raju is emotionally attached to Rosie and neglects all else. He falls into debt, and loses his shop at the railway station. Raju’s mother also moves out of their house as Rosie starts living with Raju. Raju encourages Rosie to take up her career as a dancer. He becomes her manager. He launches her as a Bharatnatyam dancer. In the mean time he squanders her money, and forges Rosie’s signature for a pack of her jewellery in the custody of bank, for which he is imprisoned for two years. After his release from prison, Raju takes a shelter near a temple, where he is mistaken for a holy man by a villager named ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 846 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 9s, (2020), pp. 845-849 Velan. He accepts the situation as it solves his problem of food and shelter. Gradually, he accepts the role of a holy man which has been thrust upon him. Raju is satisfied with his life until a drought occurs. But the cheating cannot go on forever and Raju is caught in his own web. He makes an earnest effort to escape the ordeal by revealing his past to Velan, but fails. He apparently starts believing in the role he has taken on. He continues his fast and one day he faints. His legs sag down, and he feels that it is raining in the hills. The narrative ends without answering whether he dies, or whether the drought has really ended. The narratee is free to infer as he likes. The film ‘Guide’, is an adaptation of the novel The Guide. The director has made a few changes here and there, to suit the taste of the masses. But after going through the novel, if we watch the movie carefully, we will find that quite a few changes have been made in the original text just to make it suitable as per the taste of the audience.