139. Books into Web-series – 2

I was asked by one of my college friends, Bobby, as how I come to know of all the books and web-series that I write about.  He was amazed by me writing about so many series that he would never have heard of😊.

I will write about my sources before venturing into the actual book/series.  I have 2 websites that I browse on a daily basis as to the new movies and web-series that get released.  I also visit rediff and msn website for movies and web-series. Sometimes these sites would cover top 10/50 movies/web-series that one should watch.  Sometimes they would come with the list of movies/web-series that will be coming in the future.  Similar info is also provided by Times of India and Deccan Chronicle.  I will then find out more about these and make a noting in my to-do list with their dates of release.  If it is web-series based on a book, I will get the book and read it before watching the series.  I also get recommendations from my school friends and cousins regarding the series that they have found to be good.  Based on these sources only, I gather my to-do-list and then start watching and writing about them😊.

For this blog, I am writing about 2 more books that have been made into web-series.  I admit that I have not read any of these books fully😊!!

The Night Manager – The reason I got interested in this book was a news item that Hrithik Roshan was interested in acting in the Hindi version of the series.  I found that the series is based on the book by the same name. The author being the famous John Le Carre, and was published in 1993.   It was his first post-Cold Was novel, detailing an undercover operation to bring down a major international arms dealer.

I started reading this book and by the time I reached 25%, my interest waned as the book was moving at a very slow pace.  I then watched the web-series.  The series came out in 2016 in 6 episodes.  The premise of the series is that Jonathan Pine, a luxury hotel night manager and former British soldier, is recruited by Angela Burr, the manager of a task force investigating illegal arms sales, to infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealer Richard Roper. 

The series stars Tom Hiddleston (Loki in Avenger series😊), Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman (Broadchurch fame). There are slight variations in the series than what is mentioned in the book.  The character of Olivia is actually a male character in the book.  Even the ending is changed in the series.  Overall, the series was good.  Even though the pace is somewhat faster than the book, it is good for a one-time watch.  And since there is no second part of the book, the story ends in 6 episodes.  So, you don’t have to keep waiting for the next season😊!!

Avrodh: The Siege Within – This is a web-series that premiered on SonyLIV last month.  The series is based on the first chapter of the book India’s Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes, by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh.  The book was released in 2018.   In fact, they have come up with a second book also, India’s Most Fearless: More Military Stories of Unimaginable Courage and Sacrifice in 2019. 

I have now got both the books with me. However, I am yet to read the first one.  I came to know of the book only while watching the serial where they have mentioned that the series is based on the book.  While I cannot write about the book, having not yet read it, I will write about the web-series.

The series stars Amit Sadh, who has been a constant presence in almost all the serials during this lockdown time😊!!  The series is a well-made one and is about the Uri Surgical Strike. You can say that this is a longer version of the Uri movie. 

All the characters in the series have acted well.  There is also no jingoism connected to any web-series on India.  The series is engrossing. The series is 9 episodes long with the 1st seven episodes concentrating on the planning and the last 2 episodes concentrating on the actual strike.  There are several twists and turns in the series.  

Worth seeing.

Cheers till next time!!

Today’s Observation

When all else fails, try the boss’s suggestion!