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I was very young when I first fell in love. Maybe a bit too young to even properly grasp the true power of the magic I was being introduced to. Too young to realise that there would be no turning back now. It began with my first novel. The words carefully crafted and arranged by the author, took me on a journey through worlds unknown, across the oceans, bringing on an avalanche of emotions I wasn’t aware I was capable of, until then.
Then and there I professed my love for literature and its power to move even the sturdiest of mountains. And since then I’ve met many others who shared the same undying love for it. We’d often find ourselves lost in our own world discussing the stories that had captured us. It came as a pleasant surprise to know that, this magic that had wrapped us all in its warm embrace, worked differently on each of us. Though the words are the same, the way they played out in our heads were different. I marvelled at the realisation that there was more than one side to every story.
And my joy knew no bounds when I heard that 3 Indian artists had taken up a project to illustrate scenes from some major works of literary brilliance, like Brian Selznick’s novel ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’.
These two worlds colliding have always produced brilliant results in the past. Artists often take great inspiration from their favourite literature. And with the ability to bring to life the visuals formed by the words in their heads, through shapes and colours, they create a visual treat like none other.
The three artists who enlisted in this task are MetroDoodle, Priyanka Paul and Hanisha Tirumalasetty.
I was curious to see how these stories played out to them. And in what ways their versions of it were similar or dissimilar to mine. I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed.
The first masterpiece the three took a shot at was ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’.
This classic novel is probably one of my all-time favourites. Hugo takes us through the life of its young protagonist before and after the loss of his father. The boy’s gumption in his quest to find the key that would make his late father’s automaton work, had me rooting for him till the very end. Add to that the mystery of the true purpose of the apparatus, and Selznick’s creation is one for the ages.
Check out what impression this novel left on these artists:
1. Priyanka Paul.
2. Hanisha Tirumalasetty.
3. MetroDoodle.
Here’s what their interpretations look like side by side:
Beautiful isn’t it? Hanisha’s illustration shows you the tender moment shared by the father and son. MetroDoodle, on the other hand, has been more taken by the curious nature of the mysterious automaton. Priyanka portrays the young Hugo’s fascination at his father’s creation.
Even while watching the movie adaption of the novel, I had been mildly intrigued to notice how the creators had chosen to depict the scene in an entirely different manner to how I felt about the story. After mulling it over in my head for a while, I realised that when it comes to stories and art, there is no one specific way in which it can be comprehended. Like I said earlier, there is always more than one side to the story. And that’s the beauty of it.
Hanisha and Priyanka created one more artwork each, based on Dennis Lehane’s critically acclaimed novel ‘Shutter Island’.
This psychological thriller, with its cryptic characters, had me glued to the book while I attempted to find answers. What I had initially imagined would just be another crime novel, turned out to be so much more complex than that. Each turn in the story revealed a new layer to it that came at me from nowhere. This, till date, remains one of the books that I strongly suggest to fellow readers.
Hanisha remembers the novel by the dark morose air hanging around the mysterious Ashecliffe Hospital:
Even a look at her illustration which seems to be from the perspective of the U.S Marshal Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels, gives you the chills.
Whereas, Priyanka remembers it by the protagonist’s attempts to navigate the mystery:
She depicts Teddy’s mistrust of the general haunting vibe of the hospital, as Chuck watches on, as always.
You can see how, as we compare Hanisha’s perspective against Priyanka’s, we can appreciate how each of us perceives and visualises the written word differently:
This thought-provoking project has been assigned to them by &Privé HD as part of their all-new property, Bookmarked which will showcase a few handpicked movies; while shedding light on the reality that every viewer reimagines the same story differently. Bookmarked will showcase the movie adaptations of some of the best of literary works to date, like ‘No Country For Old Men‘, ‘True Grit‘, ‘The Railway Man‘ and ‘Cloud Atlas‘, to name a few.
Be prepared to gain a new perspective & Feel The Other Side of these stories with Bookmarked, which brings to you one such classic every weeknight at 7 PM in the month of May.
I can hardly wait to watch these movies on &Privé HD, this time with an open mind, to try and spot another side to the stories. What about you?
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