Fiction and Adaptation: a Comparative Study of The Blue Umbrella in Print and Celluloid

Abstract

The Blue Umbrella tells the story of Binya, a ten year old girl and her umbrella. Through the story, Ruskin Bond revisits the essence of the Bhagvad Gita and the Holy Bible. Greed, jealousy, hatred, and kindness play equal roles in the story to bring the point across to children. In 2005, The Blue Umbrella was adapted by Vishal Bharadwaj into a film of the same name which won the National Film Award for Best Children's Film. With its breathtaking visuals and acting, it was a critical success and gained accolades.

In spite of all the success, the question arises- is the film a faithful adaptation? Are all the actors true to their characters? Has not the plot been tampered in trying to make the film a critical success? Have the sequence of events been represented in all their appropriateness? Have all the characters been given equal space and dimension, as in the novel? Has the film been successful in creating the similar wavelength of aesthetic distance as in the novel? Most importantly, does the film retain the tone of the message that Ruskin Bond wanted to convey through his story?

With a comparative analysis of the text and the film, this paper aims to answer these questions through the application of Narrative Techniques under the genre of Adaptation Studies.