The writers (Ghosh along with Suresh Nair and Ritesh Shah) give themselves an out – this Aladin is merely named after the literary character, and carries the burden of his famous name, being mercilessly teased as a result. That said, Ghosh’s story strays a long way from the original and this is not the Aladdin of the classic tale. Ghosh’s version keeps the bones of the story intact: we have our hero, Aladin (with one “d”), his love interest, Jasmine, the genie of the lamp who wants to serve its owner, and a villain – in this case, a former genie bent on recovering his powers. Bachchan is not quite right – this Aladin has a little more in common with the traditional tale. But it is a contemporary form of Aladdin, it’s modern times.” There are just I think three things from the old fable which can be associated with the film today, the name Aladin, the lamp and the genie. In a recent interview, star Amitabh Bachchan stated: “Aladin is the old fable and that’s the connection but that’s where it ends. This brings me to the latest offering in the Aladdin pantheon: director Sujoy Ghosh’s Aladin, starring Amitabh Bachchan as Genius (the genie), Sanjay Dutt as the Ringmaster (Ghosh’s version of the evil sorcerer from the original tale), Riteish Deshmukh as Aladin, and newcomer Jacqueline Fernandez as Jasmine. If you can’t bring something of your own to a traditional tale, leave it in the hands of those who can!” But, Pullman says, it’s also important, in retelling a story, “to add something new as well. It has everything, he says, “comedy, drama, fantasy, magic, and a terrific plot.” Pullman considered it a great privilege to be given the opportunity to be able to rework such a classic tale he also considered it a responsibility – the retelling must respect the original story, must be true to it. In it, he tells us why the story of Aladdin is, for him, such a beloved tale. I mention the Pullman book because the author’s introduction to it is worth thinking about. Amongst the more recent literary retellings is a 2005 version by Philip Pullman, he of the His Dark Materials trilogy fame ( The Golden Compass – also made into a film - The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass). It is, perhaps, the most famous of all the stories from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, a Middle-Eastern medieval folk tale that has persisted and undergone numerous retellings and screen adaptations, including a 1952 version directed by Homi Wadia and starring Mahipal and Meena Kumari ( Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag), a 1979 Tamil version starring Kamal Haasan ( Allaudinaum Arputha Vilakkum) as well as the 1992 animated film Aladdin from the Disney studios. The story of Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp is, to quote the lyrics from a song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, a “tale as old as time”.

Aladin 2009 running time