A Suitable Boy (TV series)

In May 2017, Charlotte Moore, head of content for BBC Studios, announced for an adaptation of Vikram Seth's 1993 novel A Suitable Boy, into a min-television series.[3] The news was disclosed by publisher Aleph Book Company in an official press release on 5 May 2017.[14] The makers reportedly finalized screenwriter Andrew Davies, to pen the adapted screenplay,[15] and also decided cast non-white characters for the series, thus becoming BBC's first period drama with a non-white cast.[16] Piers Wenger, BBC's head of drama also said to the same publication, “It’s a 20th century classic and it is obviously set outside the UK in a world which is non-white, non-British, and yet which has big universal themes at the heart of it.”[16]

Andrew Davies eventually spoke about the main character Lata, in an interview to Deadline Hollywood stating that "Lata’s trials of the heart speak as loudly to me now as when I first read Vikram’s epic novel two decades ago. She is a great literary heroine in the tradition of Jane Austen and George Eliot. But behind her stands a massive supporting cast of striking, funny, irrepressible characters and a vision of India in the 1950s that no reader can ever forget."[16][17]

In May 2019, the six-part series was officially commissioned by BBC Studios, with Indian filmmaker Mira Nair being brought on board as director.[18] On her inclusion in the project, she stated that "I eventually liked the book, when it was published in late 1993, and tried to get the rights to adapt it into a film. But it was too big and too hard to adapt at that point. So, I created my own microcosmic response to the huge epic by making my own intimate Monsoon Wedding (2001). It is great to be going back to it."[19] Produced on a budget of £16 million, it is one of the most expensive BBC series ever made.[18]

Wenger, told The Telegraph UK that it was "a deliberate gamble" to adapt a drama with no white characters.[3] In May 2019, when Mira Nair was roped in for the film, she stated that 80% of the casting has been finalized, with Tabu, Shefali Shah, Vivek Gomber, Rasika Dugal and Vivaan Shah being a part of the cast.[18] However she did not finalize the casting for the main character Lata, with a leading actress was reported to play the role, although Mira did not reveal the details,[18] which later revealed to be Tanya Maniktala.[21] In August 2019,[22] Ishaan Khatter was reported to play a pivotal role in the series.[23][24] Later in September 2019, Namit Das joined the cast the following month.[2][25][26] There are 110 characters in the series.[27]

A Suitable Boy was filmed in various locations across India.[3] Principal photography began in Lucknow in September 2019, with the actors undergone look tests and script reading sessions, before commencing the shoot.[28] Shooting took place in King George's Medical University in Lucknow, which was shown as Brahmpur University. In December 2019, the makers wrapped up the shooting schedule in Lucknow.[29] The shooting came to halt after Sadaf Jafar, one of the cast members in the series got arrested by the police, due to her involvement in the protests against the new citizenship law in Lucknow,[30] with Nair demanding for her release.[31]

The series was followed by sequences being shot in a number of other cities in India, including Maheshwar and Kanpur in Madhya Pradesh.[32][33] The makers filmed aerial shots of the Narmada river, which is shadowed by the temple complex Ahilya Fort, in the central Indian town of Maheshwar.[34] RadioTimes cited that the river and fort provide the "soul of the series with Lata’s early morning boat rides providing some of the most memorable imagery from both the book and series".[33]

The original soundtrack for A Suitable Boy, was scored by British composer Alex Heffes and Anoushka Shankar.[35] Kavita Seth, who also scored the music for the series, also crooned for the voice of Saeeda Bai's character (played by Tabu).[36] Mira approached Kavita, after following her web series Main Kavita Hoon. Before recording the song, Mira introduced Seth to the film's plot, with Seth did a lot of research for the music. She stated that "She was very clear about what she wanted for every song, about the songs' emotions, which made it easy for me to work with her".[37] Mira approved most of her song, excluding one song. So, Kavita composed for the song within 15 minutes, which made her quite impressed. She was assigned to work on the music for 15 days, while Kavita did composing, designing and singing the songs in 3–4 days. Kavita sang most of the ghazals for Tabu's character, with retaining the songs in order to cater the international audiences as well.[38] Namit Das composed one song for the series, marking his debut in composition.[39] The soundtrack album featuring instrumental compositions, was released on 2 November 2020, in digital and physical formats. The 45-song soundtrack album was released in two-disc vinyl formats.[40]

The show received mixed reactions from critics. Robyn Bahr of The Hollywood Reporter stated "The potency of Seth's story remains intact; Davies and Nair's stylization nearly clobbers it."[53] Judy Berman, chief editor of Time magazine, wrote: "A Suitable Boy transcends escapism, it’s because she brought the substance along with the sparkle."[54] Jude Dry of IndieWire wrote: "A Suitable Boy lacks the comedic touch of Downton Abbey or the critical lens of The Crown, languishing somewhere in the middle and coming up short. Without a defined perspective on the class and religious conflict it uses as a narrative backdrop, A Suitable Boy feels like frothy fluff — yummy in the moment but easily forgettable and won’t fill you up."[55]

Chitra Ramaswamy of The Guardian stated: "It is beautiful, expensive and groundbreaking in its casting, yet Andrew Davies’s adaptation of Vikram Seth’s tome still feels uncomfortably old-school".[56] The Independent magazine, chief reporter Ed Cumming wrote "This adaptation of Vikram Seth’s epic, 1300-page novel seemed promising, but we’ll have to keep waiting for an Indian family saga of rugged verisimilitude."[57] Writing for The Times, Carol Midgley stated "a zesty new drama with a slight hint of cheese".[58] Flora Cairr of Radio Times, reviewed the first episode of the series and stated "By the end of episode one, the seeds of violence and heartbreak have already been sewn, in addition to a scandalous secondary storyline involving adultery and melted-down family medals."[59]

Writing for Hindustan Times, Rohan Nahhar wrote: "An astonishing cast, led by Ishaan Khatter, Tabu and Tanya Maniktala, struggles to make the most of minimal screentime and a mediocre script in Mira Nair’s unsuitable adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel."[60] Anupama Chopra, editor-in-chief of Film Companion wrote: "Mira Nair delivers a visually sumptuous saga which, despite the sizable bumps, is ultimately satisfying."[61] Pankhuri Shukla of The Quint, praised the cast members for the acting sequences, but opined that "the English dialogues seem to be a deterrent to the actors' performances, with the occasional Urdu/Punjabi/Hindi dialogues sprinkled here and there are the only saving grace."[62] Mimi Anthikkad Chibber of The Hindu wrote: "There is no dearth of stereotypes in this adaptation of Vikram Seth’s 1993 novel, yet the show moves too briskly and looks too lovely to ignore".[63]

Devansh Sharma of Firstpost wrote "Seth's book was never celebrated for its plot anyway. Its primary claim to excellence was the language. Neatly and inventively crafted, Seth's words were both transportive and evocative. The translation to visuals achieves only half the job."[64] India Today's Nairita Mukherjee wrote: "A Suitable Boy Review: In 2020, the world is capable of accepting and appreciating non-English content, as long as it has the power of good writing. That's where Mira Nair's adaptation of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy stumbles."[65] In a positive note, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote "A Suitable Boy, does not miss a beat in funnelling a massive novel into an intricately stitched, necessarily pared filmed version. This panoramic portrait of a newly-free nation and fast-changing social segments within it has an easy-flowing quality that belies the sheer magnitude of the exercise."[66] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote "The book has enough time and more to get into long, languid, eloquent descriptions of locations, characters, situations; in Mira Nair and Andrew Davies hands, the chop-chop eventually overcomes the choppiness, and becomes its own creature."[67]

The series became controversial, after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, objected to a scene where the characters Lata (Tanya Maniktala) and Kabir (Danesh Razvi), shown kissing each other in the premises of a temple.[68] His statement came after, Bharatiya Janata Party Youth leader, Gaurav Tiwari, filed a complaint against the makers on 22 November 2020, for "allegedly hurting religious sentiments".[69] Tiwari also appealed to people at large on Twitter to uninstall the platform Netflix (which bought its global streaming rights) from their phones, as #BoycottNetflix began to trend on Twitter. It was further criticised for portraying Love Jihad.[70] On 25 November, an FIR was filed against two executives from Netflix India, in response to the complaint registered by Tiwari.[71]