Alok isn’t excited over the release of “Saawariya”. He discusses the short story by Dostoevsky, on which the movie is (reportedly) based, as well as two movies made on this story.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s new film Saawariya is reportedly based on a story by Dostoevsky. I have nothing to say about the film and I am not very excited about its release either. Other than the usual complaints, it will no doubt add yet another episode in the long tradition of endogamy that has become a peculiar tradition of Bollywood.[..]

Anyway a few words about the short story in question. It is one of his early works and would be quite obscure had it not been adapted by two of Europe’s greatest film directors - Robert Bresson and Luchino Visconti. (That must surely be where Bhansali got his idea from too in the first place.)