NEW YORK: Aladdin is now all set to lighten the imagination of American folk culture without the help of a genie’s lamp. Who will get a magic lamp seems to sparkle the Americans and rest of the world. Aladdin – a live action film directed by Guy Ritchie is all set to hit the theaters in the United States on May 24, 2019.

It is a remake of Disney’s 1992 animated film based on the popular folktale from ‘The Book of One Thousand and One Nights’ popularly known as The Arabian Nights. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Aladdin – the remake version casts a movie star Will Smith to play the Genie. A benign street urchin and a power-lusty Grand Vizier are locked in a competition to get a magic lamp gifted with a power to fulfill their wishes.

The basic story has not changed.  However, Aladdin of 1992 animated film did not have freshness of characters as one will see in the present remake. A young thief named Aladdin (Mena Massoud) bumps into a genie (Will Smith). He falls in love with a princess named Jasmine (Naomi Scott). These contemporary characters will weave the old story in their own style of mannerisms for today’s audiences. Aladdin is no stranger to Asia as it originated in this very land. Since the early 18th century “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” has been retold umpteen times with or without variations. Its original version in Arabic language is said to have been created during the Islamic Golden Age dated from the 8th century to the 14th century.

Now Aladdin is all over the world inspiring, entertaining and teaching wisdom to all from different age groups. The Arabian Nights story, about a boy and his magic lamp, has a long history of film and TV adaptations in India. BP Mishra’s silent film Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1927) was followed by Madan and Sons’ Aladdin (1931), Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1952), Homi Wadia’s Adventures of Aladdin (1978), Manu Bhasin’s film on Alladin (1987) to name a few.  Aladdin is still going all stron through various adaptions in books, cartoons, animated and feature films, TV serials, pantomime, musical theatre, live action, comics and video games.

(Agencies)