India, July 25 -- When books leap to the big screen, the results range from timeless brilliance to total fiasco, revealing how fragile storytelling can be

"The book was better." And let's be honest, it usually is. But once in a rare while, a film adaptation exceeds expectations, imprinting the story onto our collective memory in ways print alone never could. Still, the path from page to screen is a battlefield. Beloved characters are flattened, essential subplots vanish, and entire narratives are contorted to fit a runtime. When an adaptation survives this Hollywood grinder with its soul intact, it feels like alchemy.

Take The Godfather. Mario Puzo's novel was compelling, but Francis Ford Coppola sculpted something greater, a cinematic ...