It is a time-tested fact. Very rarely does a movie turn out as good as the book it's based on and more often than not the hype around the release of such movies and the expectations of fans far surpass the actual returns.
However, the excitement in the air right now is justified. Indian fans of Stephanie Meyer's “Twilight” series don't have to wait any longer to watch their favourite love story come to life on the big screen as “Twilight” opened yesterday.
Fashion designer and die-hard fan of “Twilight”, Ameetha Mathew thinks: “It is the Rob Pattinson factor in the movie that gives me enough reason to want to watch the movie. The book was excellent and though there have been other vampire movies, what stands out about ‘Twilight' is that it is an out of the ordinary love story.”
While many Indian fans have already watched the first movie either on the internet or have downloaded it, it is the sequel, “New Moon” (which opens on December 4 in the city) that fans are looking forward to.
Anjana Menon, a student at Kingston University who has also worked with the publishers and distributors of the “Twilight” series in India is all set to watch “New Moon” this week in London. She says: “The sequel will be good. I hope it won't be a disappointment. The first one didn't disappoint me, but I know it did for a lot of people. But it is quite hard as the book is inside Bella's head which is a little hard to show on screen!”
Partha Biswal, a senior consultant at 24/7 Customer Care says: “The expectations from ‘New Moon' are led by what audiences got from ‘Twilight'. ‘Twilight' was was that rare movie that did justice to the book it is based on. The trailers of ‘New Moon' seem awesome and have further excited a lot of people I know including my wife and the online Twilight community. I'm looking forward to catch the movie first day, first show.”
Pick and choose
There are others who are eager to watch specific scenes as the book has already painted for strong and beautiful images in their mind. Data Analyst, Krishna Raha states: “Since I already know the story I can't wait to watch the depiction of a few scenes such as the wolf pack, the transformation of Jacob, the killing of Laurent, the volturi and the meeting of Bella and Edward.”
From the increasing number of Twilight fan clubs and the fast growing online communities, it is true that the vampire series has come to be a cult favourite. Anjana opines: “Supernatural fiction has caught on after the success of ‘Twilight'. There are so many books out there. There is this series called ‘House of Night' which even looks like ‘Twilight' with their cover design. So many authors are building on the success of the series and there are a few Mills and Boon books out along the same theme as well. Apart from books, the supernatural has spread like wildfire to become a pop cultural phenomenon. There were ‘Vampire Nights' in Delhi and Bangalore as a party theme, organised by Hachette India.”
Psychologist Jamuna Tripathi has her take on why “Twilight” has a cult following. She explains: “Human beings are almost always fascinated by a world beyond their own, the supernatural world. Whether it is aliens or blood thirsty vampires, the quest to find paranormal information that is not typical or easy to grapple with is nothing but normal. Who cares if boy loves girl? That is what anyway happens. But who wouldn't want to see the chemistry between a delectable vampire and a beautiful girl?”
