The 'Twist' in the transcultural adaptation of Tennessee Williams's play The Glass Menagerie (1944) into Shyamaprasad's film Akale (2004)

Abstract

The award-winning Malayalam film Akale (2004), directed by Shyamaprasad, exemplifies the transformative power of transcultural adaptation, adding a distinctive twist to The Glass Menagerie (1944), the memory play by Tennessee Williams, a luminary in American literature. The twist in Akale (2004) lies in i) its cultural adaptation to the fading stereotyped Anglo-Indian community of Kerala metaphorically symbolised as 'glass menageries', and ii) the stylistic shift from 'telling' their story to 'showing' or representing them on the big screen. While both texts delve into human tragedy, the cultural and cinematic adaptation explores layers of reinterpretation, shaped by and resonating with the socio-cultural and historical contexts of mid-20th-century America, in the case of The Glass Menagerie (1944) and that of the 21st-century Kerala in Akale (2004). Drawing from Linda Hutcheon's theory of adaptation, this study posits that Shyamaprasad's creative process goes beyond mere replication; instead, it establishes a site of intercultural dialogue. By reimagining Williams's work for a new cultural and temporal setting, the film highlights the universality and adaptability of the art of storytelling.