A review of the TV version of 'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth.

 

A Suitable Boy for TV- a half-term report

We’ve now had three episodes of a Suitable Boy on Sunday evenings, as adapted by Andrew Davis. So how does it measure up? Of course, you first have to decide what you are measuring against. To compare with the book seems fairly pointless; they are two different products. They say a picture points a thousand words, these televisual pictures are having to cover fourteen hundred pages and nineteen chapters, a task that is beyond six one hour episodes. So let’s discuss Andrew Davis’ show on its own merits; as television.

The Sunday night 'rules'

This is of course Sunday evening at nine o’clock television, which dictates several things. If there is to be violence, it is kept within bounds, the same goes for sex. As a costume drama it has more boxes to tick; visual spectacle, sumptuous locations and stunning clothes. The story is allowed to unfold within these parameters. A Suitable Boy has a simple enough main story, but the book includes many side plots. To adapt such a book, the trick is be judicious in what to include and what to leave out, unlike the author, Vikram Seth, who tells the reader he has endeavoured to include everything.

In the main, the show does this well, keeping the number of introduced characters under control and never letting the incidental stuff overrule the prime plot trajectory, which is to find a husband for Lata Mehra. Many of them are first seen at her sister Savita’s wedding, a good opportunity to present pen portaits of each of them. The most engaging is Maan Kapoor, the son of a politician and brother to Savita’s new husband. A young man who has so far avoided any form of responsibility, Maan is about to fall fathoms deep for the enigmatic singer and courtesan Saeeda Bai, who definitely comes under the heading of unsuitable, rather like Lata’s first choice, the handsome Kabir, who labours under the major drawback of belonging to the wrong religious group.

A Suitable Boy also has a few tiger pits to negotiate in the form of previous representations of India, from The Jewel in the Crown to the good Karma Hospital. The former portrayed the British Raj whilst the latter purports to show the present day. Boy is neither, being set shortly after Independence, which allows it to depict Indian society without too much recourse to the British point of view. It does this very well, with an all Indian cast and a subtle switching between English and Indian language. I think it manages to immerse the viewer in that society in all its richness, so that we accept its mores and the constraints the characters operate under. For instance, though Lata strives to be independent, her independence has its limits; she has to allow her mother the last word, because this is India in 1951, we accept that.

Incidental pleasures

The pleasures of this show are often to be found in the deft way it can paint a picture in a short scene, such as the one that shows us Meenakshi, the wife of Lata’s brother, enjoying the intimate attentions of his best friend. Her flightiness is appealing and you can’t help but see that being married to Arun might well drive her to seek out his polar opposite, the reckless and flamboyant Billy Irani. In a different vein, The frequent religious observances of Maan’s mother provide us with an insight into her essential nature and her constant anxieties hint at the still fragile state of post-partition Indian society.

For me the best thing that Davis has managed to retain from the book is the saturation of society in music and poetry. Saeeda Bai might sell her body but people admire her for her ability to take them somewhere else when she sings, and literature and poetry are never far from the lips of some-one. Another bonus is the frequent mention of snacks and food in general; again, true to the book.

After three episodes we have been introduced to all three of Lata’s suitors, who each have their strong points and drawbacks, as does Lata herself. She is not conventionally attractive, not a Bollywood beauty. Her appeal is based on personality, her independent spirit, her enjoyment of attention that is in conflict with her fear of committing and getting it wrong. All this makes her a heroine to warm to. At this point the viewer would be wise not to pick a winner from the three candidates for her hand, mainly because Lata is still undecided.

Summary

Having said all I have about its good points, I realise that it may be insufficiently racy for some, or not political enough for others. Most, although not all, of its characters are solidly Middle-class, but it is no bad thing to be reminded that India has such a group as well as its lower caste poor. It is ultimately a story about family and relationships and does not deserve to be castigated for not tackling contentious issues in sufficient depth.

I feel it needs to pick up a gear before the end, although there are plenty of exciting plot points to come. I would encourage viewers to stick with it, but also to try the book afterwards, which will give you far more detail.  If nothing else, enjoying the chemistry between Saeeda and Maan and cheering him on as he is forced to grow up is reason enough to watch.  I look forward to reviewing it again after the last episode has aired.