Indian Fantasy: Literature and Cinema

 

In Indian literature, fantasy is often inspired by mythology. Generally, most fantasy novels are based on the rich Indian mythology. Take Amish Tripathi and his celebrated works as an example. Everything he has written falls under the category of fantasy and has been inspired by mythology. Thus it won’t be wrong to say that India has its own style of fantasy literature. Unlike dragons, witches and wizards, in Indian literature, we find war between different gods, Lok’s, and sometimes even different dimensions.

As grand and expansive as the Indian mythology is, you’d think that the work Indian authors produce in the fantasy genre would be immense. Here I am to break that notion. Besides Amish Tripathi, there is no other author who has written fantasy novels and has received global recognition. To some extent, I find Midnight’s Children a fantasy as well, but this is where the quota ends. The lack of Indian fantasy novels is felt not just in the book stores filled with autobiographies and modern-day romance, but also in Indian cinema.

You pick up any successful TV series or movie, most of them are based upon books. Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, The Chronicles of Narnia, Birdbox, amongst many are some examples of films and series that are based upon novels. There are two things common here; all the names mentioned above come from the fantasy background, and all come from the West, both literature and cinema. Most of the successful content we consume today comes from the West.

The lack of fantasy both in literature and cinema leaves Indian literature and cinema with a giant hole. The potential of fantasy-based content is evident in the form of Harry Potter, both book-wise and movie-wise. It’s not that India does not have any good fantasy writers. The second largest populated country not having talented fantasy writers is impossible. If you search fantasy Indian books in India, you’ll find so many books by so many unknown names. The blame can’t be laid on the lack of substance in these books, I have read some, and they hold so much potential. But if we get into the lack of their recognition, we’ll go well beyond the topic of this piece.

The entire blame can’t be laid upon literature, since cinema does not choose well. Cinema can’t be blamed either since there are limited options. And both can’t be blamed entirely since people don’t appreciate the richness of Indian fantasy. We often pick up autobiographies, re-watch the same old movies, and complain about the lack of fantasy in India.

India Fantasy: Literature and Cinema- Final Words

In recent years, with OTT platforms gaining solid ground, fantasy seems to have found a new base. Cinema is expanding and experimenting, good content is getting recognised and the tried and tested formulas are no longer breaking box-office records.

About the Author- Ankit Tripathi is a writer at Binge Mad