The adaptation of Jane Austen's 19th century novel Pride and Prejudice by Gurinder Chadha into Bride and Prejudice is another exciting addition to the long list of best selling books, plays and short stories which have been turned into big screen blockbusters by Hollywood and Bollywood.

This year two Asians are making news with their adaptations of well-known classics - Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice (based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice) and Mira Nair's Vanity Fair.(Based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel by the same name.)

While Mira Nair's adaptation has fetched a mixed response, the fate of Bride and Prejudice which will hit the screens on October 8, remains to be seen.

Over the years, the silver screen's tryst with "novel" adaptations has yielded many an award winner at the Academy Awards.

In 2003, more than five books were nominated for the 76th Annual Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars.

It’s not a phenomenon that’s confined to 2003. Over the past few decades, Hollywood, and closer home, Bollywood, have turned numerous best sellers as well as relatively unknown novels and plays into blockbusters that have found an audience that spans countries and generations. And while not all adaptations have been equally successful, they have one thing in common: they act as an inspiration for other such adaptations.

In Bollywood, it’s a trend that has, at best, been sporadic: Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy, Devdas (both old and new), Sahib, Bibi, Ghulam, Biraj Bahu, Parineeta, Sahib, Bibi, Ghulam and more recently, Chokher Bali, Maqbool, Pinjar, etc.

In 2004, Rituparno Ghosh's screen adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's classic Chokher Bali starring the stunning Aishwarya Rai has created waves both at home and on the international festival circuit, winning critical acclaim in the international magazines such as Variety and a host of International Film Fests.

Read on for the list
of Hollywood and Bollywood productions based on books...

List of Hollywood winners
These novels not only became successful at the box office, but they also generated a lot of buzz, eventually going on to pick up an Oscar for a whole range of categories, from Best Picture to Best Actor, Actress and Director. The movies continue to be popular today.

Gone with the Wind —- Margaret Mitchell (Best Picture and Best Actress for Vivien Leigh.

It’s considered an all-time classic. Remember Rhett saying, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”!)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s —- Truman Capote (nominated for Best Actress, won the Best Music and Best Score instead)

Father of the Bride —- Edward Streeter (nominated for Best Picture; spawned a number of sequels and later versions, notably the one starring Steve Martin)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde —- Robert Louis Stevenson (was even adapted into the Bollywood flick, Jaani Dushman starring Sanjeev Kumar. It also inspired the making of Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy)

Mrs. Miniver —- Jan Struther (released in 1942, it won seven Oscars; Winston Churchill reportedly said that Mrs. Miniver, “was more powerful to the war effort than the combined work of six military divisions.”)

The Silence of the Lambs —- Thomas Harris (who can forget the chilling psychosis of Hannibal Lector played by Anthony Hopkins in this 1991 flick which went on to collect the major awards —- Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Adapted Screenplay)

The Godfather —- Mario Puzo (it’s one of the few movies that garnered more attention than the book, leading readers to discover the novel after seeing the movie. It also has the distinction of spawning sequels that were as good, if not better, than the first movie)

Lawrence of Arabia —- T. E. Lawrence (nominated for 10 awards and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture in 1962.)

Wizard of Oz —- Frank L. Baum (what can you say about this classic? It came out in the same year as Gone with the Wind and though nominated for six Academy Awards, got only two. Yet, it’s considered the rite of passage movie for many generations of cine-goers)

The Bridge on the River Kwai —- Pierre Boulle (The film was the number one box-office success of the year and won critical acclaim as well: eight Academy Award nominations and seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director as well as Best Adapted Screenplay)

Lord of the Rings —- J. R. R. Tolkien (do you really want to know more? It’s already set the box office ringing and promises to sweep the Oscars this year)

The Harry Potter Movies -- Based on the Harry Potter books by British author JK Rowling, three movies in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secret's, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban have met with tremendous success.

The above list is, of course, besides countless comics that have been turned into movies, like Superman, Spiderman, Batman, the Hulk and many others.

Other books that were adapted to movies include:

101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
The Dirty Dozen by E.M. Nathanson
Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Exocist by William Peter Blatty
Forest Gump by Winston Groom
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
Stuart Little by E.B. White
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Kramer vs Kramer by A. Corman

Memorable adaptations in Indian Films

Chokher Bali: The Rituparno Ghosh directed Bengali film based on a novel by Nobel Prize winner and India's literary giant Rabindranath Tagore starred Aishwarya Rai, Prasenjit, Raima Sen and Tota RayChowdhary, with Aishwarya playing the complex role of the beautiful widow Binodini who seduces Mahendra, the spoilt young son of Rajlakshmi. The film has made it to the 56th Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland), 28th Toronto International Film Festival (Canada), 39th Chicago International Film Festival (Illinois), 47th London Film Festival among many others.

Devdas: Based on the 1917 Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic Devdas, the book has been filmed nine times since its first adaptiation in 1928, the latest adaptation being the Sanjay Leela Bhansali musical extravaganza in 2002 starring Mahduri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan. The movie swept the Filmfare awards winning won 11 awards, including best film, director (Sanjay Leela Bhansali), actor (Shah Rukh Khan), actress (Aishwarya Rai) and best actress in a supporting role (Madhuri Dixit)..

It was also the first ever out-of-competition Indian film to be screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Fest. In UK, even non-Asian audiences were believed to have come out of the cinema halls, teary-eyed and emotionally choked. It tells the story of two childhood sweethearts separated when Devdas goes to London for higher studies, leaving Paro, who awaits his return, every day, every second. But fate has other plans in store for them. Class and caste differences prevent the meeting of the besotted lovers. Devdas drowns his grief in alcohol as Paro is married off to a wealthy but old widower. Not even the beautiful prostitute Chandramukhi, who grows to love Devdas intensely and gives up her trade, is able to ease the pain in Devdas' heart of losing Paro. In a tragic ending, Devdas dies at Paro's doorstep with the wish of seeing her one last time, forever buried in his heart.

Sahib Bibi Ghulam: This Bimal Roy book produced by Guru Dutt for the silver screen and directed by Abrar Alvi remains an all-time favourite, till date. The film starrring Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari and Rehman captures the decadent lifestyle of the zamindars at the end of 19th century Bengal.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam went on to win Filmfare Awards for Best Film, Director, Actress and Photography. The film also won the President's Silver Medal and the 'Film of the Year' Award from the Bengal Film Journalist Association. The film was also screened at the Berlin Film Festival in June 1963 and was India's official entry to the Oscars that year.

Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy: Based on the works of novelist Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Pather Panchali was the first of the remarkable trilogy which went on to win several international awards. The second and the third in the series were Aparojito and Apur Sansar, respectively. Pather Panchali won the President's Gold Medal, the Cannes Diploma of Merit among a host of other awards, Aparajito won the Golden Lion for the best feature film at the Venice Film Festival. Apur Sansar also won the President's Gold Medal and the Diploma Of Merit at the 14th International Film festival, Edinburgh among other awards.

Some more Indian films based on books
Biraj Bahu and Parineeta by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Maqbool based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth
Pinjar based on the book by Amrita Pritam
Earth based on Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy Man
Charulata based on a novel by Rabindranath Tagore
Tamas based on a novel by Bhisham Sahni
Guide based on RK Narayan's The Guide

Other films based on short stories
Jalsaghar (Bengali) based on a short story by Tarasankar Bannerji
Shatranj ke Khiladi based on a story by Munshi Premchand
Kabuliwala based on a short story by Rabindranath Tagore.
Chiriakhana (Bengali) a detective movie based on the story by a Bengali novelist, Saradindu Banerjee

-- written and compiled by Vijaya Sharma