Vikram Seth’s massive (and massively enjoyable) novel, A Suitable Boy, is so packed with story, detail and subplots, it would have been a daunting exercise for anyone to translate it on to screen. Maybe that is why it took decades for it to be adapted. In the capable hands of Mira Nair, who among other gems, gave us the unforgettable Monsoon Wedding about good-old-Delhi-wedding drama; the adaptation looks at the story from a fascinating angle.
A Suitable Boy is, as the name suggests, about finding one such for an eligible young girl, Lata Mehra. While that is the axis around which the story spins, there is another one that is given equal weightage in the adaptation, that of a forbidden love between a courtesan, Saeeda Bai and her young suitor, Maan Kapoor.
In fact, this second storyline appeared to be the highlight, going by the screen time and the particularly careful choice of actors who play these parts. Saeeda Bai is played by Tabu, an Indian actor well-known for her superior acting skills. She is consistently seen in films that highlight her talent, not an easy feat being in an industry that at least until recently, made movies with female characters as mere springboards for the hero to play out his destiny. Watch her get funny in the bit role as a hippie mother to a young pregnant daughter in search of her father in the otherwise forgettable Jawaani Janeman, released earlier this year. Maan Kapoor, too, is played by the upcoming Bollywood actor, Ishaan Khatter, who was last seen as the lead in the 2018 film Dhadak.
In contrast, Lata Mehra’s character is played by newbie Tanya Maniktala, who along with her love interest through much of the story, Kabir Durrani (also played by the new actor, Danesh Razvi), adds freshness and innocence to the series. They play two college students in love who cannot be together because of their religious differences - she is Hindu and he is Muslim - in a freshly post-partition India.
The many other characters play their parts ably as well. For those familiar with Indian actors, many will be known already. For instance, there is Kulbhushan Kharbanda, who manages to make a mark in the exact one scene he has as the angry father to Mrs Rupa Mehra, Lata’s mother. A special shout out to Shahana Goswami, who plays Lata’s sister-in-law, Meenakshi. She’s the fast and fashionable character, with a single-minded lust for life, even at the expense of those around her. As Meenakshi, Goswami brings much entertainment to the series and even border-line likability to a difficult role.
Interestingly though, while the screen version could have made A Suitable Boy, largely about its entertaining aspects, it does not. It focuses as much on the politics, the religious tension and the developing socio-economic dynamics in India. There is a revenue minister, who is trying to make land laws fairer for the people, a socialist, who is trying to ensure justice for them in his own way, a man who works for shoe companies and finds himself pushing against roadblocks more than once, mothers who want the best for their rebellious offsprings, a celebrated poet who still cannot get his father’s approval among many others.
The background and locales are beautifully chosen. There’s a bit of the India-tourism vibe to it, with weddings, a festival, an ascetic, boat rides along the river, rural landscapes and a palace. But I am not complaining, it does add to the aesthetic, even if in a manner we have seen before. That said, Nair does not shy away from showing a leather factory and Kolkata’s busy streets either. In other words, the series does not always look pristine.
A Suitable Boy as Nair’s adaptation is all of this, besides underlining how the more things change, the more they remain the same. More than 70 years after India gained independence, mums are still looking for suitable grooms for their daughters, religion based fault lines are showing up, the gap between haves and have nots is still a matter of concern and difficult personal choices are still being made and will continue to be made. Ultimately, the story’s timelessness is the real winner in this period drama.
P.S Mira Nair just did an interview with The Financial Times about this recently, which I enjoyed reading and would recommend.
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