Although the makers of famous TV sitcom Friends are set to make a movie version of it, actress Jennifer Aniston is not too keen for the show’s reunion flick. She was quoted as saying, “I can’t imagine what that would be. It’s not normal. Friends are in your living room; Friends is not in a movie theater. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Earlier too, many TV serial directors pushed the envelope and made popular serials into feature films, just like Mr. Bean, Sex And the City, The Adventures of Tintin, X-Files etc. In Bollywood too, after the success of Khichdi, Ghar Jamai was made into a feature film.
While regular sitcom lovers agree with Jennifer, there are also those who would love to see their favourite soaps made into a film. Apar, a media professional says, “A few things are meant to be enjoyed in your living room, day after day and Friends is one of those. These fun series have always been a daily dose of entertainment. If they come up with a movie, it won’t be as popular as the episodes. People love to see the story in short episodes than a long stretch of a movie. This holds true for Two And A Half Men, Friends and Outsourced as well.”
Agrees Rahul Sinha (name changed), “Just as you can’t do justice to a book by translating it in cinema, the same way you can’t squeeze many seasons of a popular TV sitcom into a two-hour movie. The essence is lost. Imagine Mahabharata in a two hour film! Every episode of Friends has emotions built over time and makers of the serial cannot do justice to it all in a two-hour film.”
Neha Jain, who works with an NGO and is a big fan of popular sitcoms Heros and How I Met Your Mother, says, “Somehow I feel the humour and acting of sitcom actors doesn’t suit the big screen. Some stories are best depicted in short and crisp episodes. Sitcoms turned into a film would seem like an effort to laugh all over again.”
But Shivani Jayant, a college student from Pakistan, says she really enjoys the sitcoms made into films. “I loved Sex And The City 1 and 2. The films were made on a single subject, and the story revolved around it. Certainly, not every sitcom can duplicate its success on film, but some serials would lend themselves to good films with a nice central theme. I would love to see film versions of Barney and How I Met Your Mother,” she sums up.