First there were the books. And then there were the movies. The end of the Harry Potter franchise is almost in sight, with the first part of the last Potter film readying for release. The Deathly Hallows Part I comes after a long break for Potter fans, but is the anticipation as high as it was for the other instalments in the series? Or have teens grown out of the story of the boy wizard?
Life Sciences student Sukanya K.C. says too much water has flowed under the bridge since the zenith of the HP days. “You know, my friends and I were about nine years old when the first book came out. And one thing that was great about the story was that the characters grew up just as we did. But the films were never as great as the books. There just wasn’t that sense of anticipation with the films after the first three were released. Plus, we’ve got Twilight now!” she says.
Eighteen-year-old Prajakta Apte agrees. “I’m not really waiting with bated breath for the movie to come out, although I still enjoy reading the books a lot. One reason is that the movies were never quite as good as what you imagined when you read the books,” she explains.
But the HP franchise still has its fair share of fans, if the recent disappointment at the news that the Deathly Hallows will not be released in the 3D format is any indication. Jasleen Nagpal, a first year Engineering student says, “I am still hooked on to the characters. To be honest, I’m not a fan of the movies. The books — yes. Even now, whenever I’m bored, I just pick up any of the books and just start reading at random. But the anticipation for the movies stems from, you know, having read the book, you have to see what they’ve done with it on screen. Actually my friends and I are really looking forward to The Deathly Hallows.”
Indeed, with author J.K. Rowling revealing to Oprah Winfrey that she is considering writing another Potter book, the boy wizard may just regain all his fans yet. After all, having conquered the Dark Lord, can Twilight be much of an opponent?
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