Will A Suitable Boy Meet Expectations? 
... and more reviews!

I was struck by BBC TV’s adaptation of A Suitable Boy which began streaming Stateside on Acorn TV earlier this month and have seen three of the six episodes aired so far. My first thought was that the series deserved more than six episodes. Didn’t Downton Abbey get six seasons and a movie? 

It is a take on Vikram Seth’s celebrated 1993 epic novel set in 1951 — in a newly independent India — against a backdrop of political and religious upheaval. The central character is the young and rebellious Lata Mehra whose mother is trying to find her a husband (“a suitable boy” of the title). As a fan of the 1,500 page book, I was afraid of being disappointed — but loving it so far!

Directed by Mira Nair (of Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake fame) it is lush and colorful. Through the relationships of four families, the Mehras, Chatterjis, Kapoors, and Khans, Nair presents a country that keeps failing (killing of peaceful protesters, sectarian riots, Hindu nationalism) but remains aspirational (general elections, land reforms, inter-faith love). 

As one of the most expensive BBC series ever made, Nair has splurged on gorgeous costumes, fine jewelry, and lavish parties, including an elaborate wedding, celebration of Holi (a spring festival), and scenic boat rides on the Ganges.

Nawabi (Princely) Culture

Nair, who (like Seth) grew up in a similar public school educated, secular Indian tradition as many of her generation, has a way of recreating time, place, and historical context — as in Lucknow’s famed Nawabi or Princely culture — that is deeply nostalgic and strongly evocative of an India that once was! 

The book’s fictional Brahmpur is filmed on location along the Ganges between Benares and Patna. Besides Lucknow, the series also features Calcutta, Delhi, Kanpur, and Maheshwar (Madhya Pradesh in central India), and feels compellingly authentic. 

There is a large ensemble cast. Lata (played by Tanya Maniktala) and Kabir (Danesh Razvi) fall in love after meeting at university but Lata is a Hindu and Kabir a Muslim in a country riven by unrest and painful religious differences. Lata realizes that Kabir is not the “suitable boy” her mother would like her to marry!

Lata’s brother-in-law Maan, played by Ishaan Khatter, embarrasses his dad (high-ranking politician Mahesh) by pursuing Saeeda Bai, an older courtesan and ghazal singer, played by Tabu. Mahesh’s land reforms are opposed by greedy landowners who want to maintain the status quo. 

I enjoyed the hilarious scenes of tango dancing at a party in Calcutta, which used to have (still has) a distinct rather Westernized club culture rarely found elsewhere in India.

Political Turmoil 

The series reflects the socio-economic and political turmoil of the times with the pull between tradition and progress, bitter class and caste conflict, wealthy landowners exploiting the poor, and the taboo of inter-faith marriage. 

Nair has said in interviews that she was drawn to the political backdrop of a post-independence India as it prepared for its first national election as a democracy, and the modernity and optimism embodied in Lata’s character. 

Also interesting is that the themes covered — of religious intolerance, the complexities of family life, the position of women, the pressure of society on the individual, and the danger of democracy slipping into autocracy — are being played out just as intensely in today’s India.  

Media Flak!

The series, a first by the Beeb with an entirely South Asian cast, was met with praise in Britain but not so much in India where there was flak about it being almost entirely in English. But the world of Seth’s book is also very anglicized, influenced by two centuries of Colonial rule. Many Indian families of Nair’s and Seth’s milieu grew up speaking only (or mainly) English. 

Critics found fault with the actors’ accents and accused them of “trying to sound browner,” “taking a Peter Sellers approach,” and the drollest one, “the BBC’s revenge on Indians for writing better English!” In my view, what you hear is a clearly enunciated, slower, 1950s English, the kind not in use today but, I think, appropriate!  

I agree, though, that it is odd to hear Indian village characters speak to each other in English. When they converse in Hindi, as Saeeda with her maid, the flow sounds more natural.

Indian critics were also peeved that award-winning British screenwriter Andrew Davies, who adapted Pride and Prejudice, was chosen by Seth to do the screenplay — shouldn’t that be the decision of the author?

Intolerance for Dissent

Meanwhile, a controversy has erupted over kissing scenes! Indian ruling party politicians of the Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have claimed that “religious sentiments” were “hurt” because the series showed a Hindu girl kissing a Muslim boy against the backdrop of a temple! They called for a nationwide boycott of Netflix whose officials were booked by police, told to remove offensive content, and apologize for “encouraging love jihad.”  

The absurd love jihad conspiracy theory claims that Muslim men are part of a plot to lure Hindu women into marriage and force their conversion to Islam! A few years ago, it was a fringe notion of the lunatic right feeding a culture of suspicion around inter-faith couples — it has now gone mainstream!

I find it odd that the series was even shown in India! It is a time of total intolerance for dissent with secularism and free speech under threat and Muslims reviled and persecuted in ways previously unseen — all of it happening with police complicity, little recourse to justice, and much of the elite and media seeming to acquiesce with such blatant bigotry. Sad times, indeed!

Lucknow

The Urdu poetry of Mirza Ghalib, Mir Taqi Mir, and Daagh Dehlvi in the scenes with Saeeda are a celebration of Lucknow’s rich and historic Indo-Muslim culture that clearly belong to an earlier more liberal era, unsullied by today’s dark cloud of Hindu fundamentalism! 

Lucknow is famed for its “Tehzeeb” (mannerisms and culture) that derived from the Muslim Nawabs (Princes) of the erstwhile Kingdom of Awadh (also called Oudh). The city’s Nawabi culture speaks to its refinement, courtesy, etiquette, sophistication, and fine taste in dance (Kathak), Urdu poetry (ghazals, qawwali), music, literature, drama, and cuisine.

It reminded me of two of my favorite Lucknow-based Indian films. One is Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj ke Khiladi (Chess Players), the story of the 1856 British annexation of Awadh on the eve of the Indian Rebellion (Sepoy Mutiny). The two main characters are so immersed in playing chess, they ignore the invasion taking place! For classic performances, look no further than Amjad Khan in a heartrending role as the Nawab, Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey as the chess players, Shabana Azmi as Sanjeev’s philandering wife, Farooq Shaikh as her lover, with Richard Attenborough, Victor Bannerji, Tom Alter, and Barry John. 

Another is Umrao Jaan, the 1981, visually stunning, Muzaffar Ali-helmed film starring Rekha (not the bad 2006 remake!) which outshone its Bollywood “nawab and nautch girl” genre. Also set during the 1857 Mutiny, the film beautifully recreated the Lucknow of the period with its pigeon flight contests (kabootar baazi) and Indian hop scotch (ikkal dukkal)! It was also a feast for Urdu and Kathak (Indian classical dance) fans! 

More Reviews: Jane Austen, Daphne du Maurier

The new film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma which mixes social satire, romantic intrigue, and match-making was excellent with live musical performances giving it a decided edge! Emma (Anna Taylor-Joy) plays the piano and sings “‘Tis the Last Rose of Summer” and Mr Knightley (Johnny Flynn) plays the violin and gives a commanding performance of “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” from Ben Johnson’s To Celia. (English Majors will be familiar with those classic poems/chansons/lieder!)

A Suitable Boy has its own German lied, Schubert’s Die Nebensonnen (The Sun Dogs), beautifully sung in the third episode by a character described as a music teacher. Seth himself sings Schubert — I heard him in Delhi many years ago at the home of Austrian diplomat Peter Launsky who later married Seth’s sister, Aradhana, a designer. 

I’m intrigued that many new British adaptations of period literature and historical plays seem to sneak in a live musical performance now and again, such as, in the film version of My Cousin Rachel, with Rachel Weisz and Sam Claflin, based on the Daphne du Maurier novel.

Victoria and Albert

Victoria, a PBS Masterpiece Theatre drama by ITV, also included a live performance with a young Queen Victoria, played by Jenna Coleman, singing a Bach hymn “O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden,” (O sacred Head, now wounded) in German. But wasn’t it Prince Albert of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who soulfully sang “Drink to Me Only...” to Victoria which made her pick him over Ernest, his more charming older brother? I waited in vain! He didn’t sing it in the PBS drama!

I wonder how the disastrous six-part ITV historical drama, Beecham House (on PBS Masterpiece Theatre, directed by Gurinder Chadha) played in India. Not everyone can do period films! Chadha, who also directed the films Bend it Like Beckham and Bhaji on the Beach, co-wrote Beecham House. One of the kindest things said about it by The Guardian was “risible!”

Sorry to report that the new film version of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca with Armie Hammer, Lily James, and Kristin Scott-Thomas was drab, poorly directed, and oh-so disappointing! Du Maurier deserved better!

Let’s hope 2021 will be an improvement — for films, streaming shows, and life in general! Meanwhile, waiting impatiently for the next three episodes of A Suitable Boy!  

Note that Seth is writing a sequel novel called A Suitable Girl where an aging Lata, now a grandmother, has come full circle and is looking for a wife for her grandson!

Ludi Joseph

Washington, D.C.

December 16, 2020

Check out NPR Interview with Mira Nair: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/12/945788759/mira-nairs-a-suitable-boy-makes-us-streaming-premiere