New Delhi, June 13 -- The opening line from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is so well-known ("It is a truth universally acknowledged.") that it's become a kind of cultural shorthand for matchmaking and social expectations. Austen's mix of sharp humour, tangled romances and family dynamics makes her stories perfect for the screen. Austen's enduring themes-struggles with love, class and tradition-also find resonance in Indian cinema, from Bollywood to regional films.

At first glance, Regency-era England might seem worlds away from the vibrant, chaotic and melodramatic world of Indian films. But scratch the surface and it becomes clear: Austen's novels were always more than polite parlour dramas. They are rich dissections of social expec...