Movies You Didn't Know Were Adaptions Of Classic Stories
How many have you watched?
Give it a desi twist, and suddenly the classics can feel brand new.
You know those late-night romance movie cravings when Hollywood films don't seem to cut it. What you need is a soothing album, some dance numbers and overdramatic reactions to seemingly unnatural and larger-than-life situations.
With classical adaptations taking the world of romance by storm, here are some romantic films from Indian cinema that are adaptations of classic English stories.
Badlapur (2015)
Badlapur, directed by Sriram Raghavan, is often linked thematically to Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky for its focus on guilt, morality, and psychological suffering. But what sets Badlapur apart is the role love plays in its darkness. The novel is not about romance, and neither is the film traditionally. But the tragedy that attacks his family turns this same love into grief, and that grief slowly becomes anger and revenge. Everything he does comes from that loss. Unlike the novel, which focuses more on moral struggle aching the mind, the film shows how intense emotions of the heart can override a person’s actions. So while Crime and Punishment examines moral conflict through philosophy and crime, Badlapur grounds it in personal loss and fractured love.
Lootera (2013)
Lootera, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, is inspired by The Last Leaf by O. Henry. While the original story is focused on illness and sacrifice, this film translates that small idea into a full-blown emotional love story set in the 1950s Indian landscape. The film stars Sonakshi Sinha as a quiet and sensitive young woman living with her father in rural Bengal, while Ranveer Singh plays a charming archaeologist hiding his true identity. Unlike the short story, which centres on the illness and a symbolic leaf, particularly, Lootera builds an entire first half around the romance and betrayal between the leads before gently weaving in O. Henry’s theme of quiet sacrifice. Overall, Lootera is not a complete direct retelling of The Last Leaf. But it takes the heart of the short story and grows it into a full-length film about love and regret.
Dil Diya Dard liya (1966)
While Wuthering Heights is known for its bleak and stormy tone, Dil Diya Dard Liya, directed by A. R. Kardar, softens some of the darkness and presents the story through music, sacrifice, and heightened emotion. The film keeps the novel’s central theme of destructive love through Shankar, played by Dilip Kumar (inspired by Heathcliff), and Roopa, played by Waheeda Rehman (inspired by Catherine), without losing the quiet nuance that defined 1960s Bollywood. Decades later, the style may feel classic, but the emotions still hit the same, some would say more than most current adaptations.
Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000)
Directed by Rajiv Menon, it is a Tamil adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Instead of 19th-century England, the story is set in South India, swapping the English estates and polite Victorian society with rural traditions and social expectations from a culturally driven environment. Tabu plays Sowmya, calm and practical, much like Elinor Dashwood. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Meenakshi, emotional and romantic, similar to Marianne. Both sisters learn about patience, strength, and self-respect through struggles that are punctuated by a musical album that remains unforgettable to date. The male leads are no less in matters of beauty or acting prowess. Ajith Kumar plays Edward Ferrars ( Tabu’s lover), Abbas plays the unreliable John Willoughby (Aishwarya’s first infatuation), and the great Mammootty plays the character inspired by Colonel Brandon (Aishwarya’s true love). The film beautifully curates the adaptation and the major star cast that it carries.
Bride and Prejudice (2004)
Bride and Prejudice is what happens when Jane Austen’s famously restrained Victorian world gets sparkled with some Bollywood glitter. Directed by Gurinder Chadha, the film stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the sharp and self-assured Lalita (Lizzie, but with better dance moves) and Martin Henderson as the slightly smug but redeemable Mr Darcy. Adapted from Pride and Prejudice, the film swaps English balls for the great, fat Indian weddings, stiff glances for full-blown musical sequences ( the aforementioned Bollywood razzle dazzle ) and Mr Darcy’s brooding for a beachside smoulder. It has the original’s matchmaking chaos, social snobbery and ironical commentary on heteronormative societal expectations, but also colour-coordinated lehengas, gossiping mohalle ki aunties, and a soundtrack that refuses to be subtle.
Aisha (2010)
Aisha, directed by Rajshree Ojha, reimagines Emma by Jane Austen in the polished world of South Delhi’s elite. At its centre is Sonam Kapoor as Emma — wealthy, stylish, and absolutely convinced she is the cupid no one asked for but needed nevertheless. Opposite her, Abhay Deol plays the grounded Mr Knightley, the voice of reason ready to call out Emma when we cannot. The film thrives on superficial and commercial frames with couture wardrobes, perfectly lit three-storey homes, champagne brunches and polo matches. But beneath the gloss lies Austen’s familiar critique of privilege and self-delusion. Aisha’s well-meaning attempts at matchmaking mirror Emma’s classic flaw, confusing control with care. The emotional arc remains faithful to Austen’s original rhythm of confidence ( some may call it delusion ), chaos because of said delusion, embarrassment, and, to end it, romantic clarity.
Saawariya (2007)
Emotionally filled, Saawariya is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and is inspired by White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The original tale is brief and intimate, centred on fleeting connection and unreturned love, but Bhansali takes that emotional base and builds an entire magical, musical world around it. The small conversations of the short story become sweeping songs. The loneliness of a few nights becomes a fully imagined, theatrical city. It keeps the theme of longing untouched but expresses it in Bhansali’s signature grandeur style, never losing its true essence that sometimes love could be sincere and still not enough.