Screening of short film “An Astrologer’s Day” based on R.K.Narayan’s “An Astrologer’s Day”.
Recently, as part of a task given by Megha ma’am, we watched the short film adaptation of R.K. Narayan’s An Astrologer’s Day. This screening offered a fresh perspective on the classic short story, bringing its characters, setting, and themes to life on screen. It was an opportunity to reflect on how the film interprets Narayan’s narrative and to compare the cinematic elements with the original text.
Pre viewing task
Observe the setting, plot, character, structure, style, theme of the original short story.
Literary Elements of An Astrologer’s Day
-Setting
The story is set in a bustling Indian marketplace near Town Hall Park, alive with vendors, crowds, and flickering lights. The astrologer works under a tamarind tree, surrounded by magicians, hawkers, and auctioneers, all competing for attention. The semi-darkness—lit by gas lamps, flares, and cycle lights—creates an atmosphere of mystery and concealment, perfectly matching the astrologer’s need to hide his ignorance of real astrology.
-Plot
The story follows a tight, ironic arc:
1. The astrologer sets up his stall and reads palms using practiced guesses.
2. He encounters a man (Guru Nayak) who challenges his knowledge.
3. In a tense exchange, he reveals details of the man’s past stabbing and supposed death of his attacker.
4. The twist: the astrologer himself was the attacker and fled years ago believing he had killed Guru Nayak.
5. Relieved to know his victim survived, he returns home to his wife, freed from years of guilt.
The plot unfolds in a single evening, turning an ordinary day into a life-changing moment for the astrologer.
-Character
The Astrologer: A pragmatic man pretending to be a mystic. Clever and observant, he survives through shrewdness but carries a hidden burden of guilt.
Guru Nayak: A vengeful man seeking his attacker, unaware that he’s speaking to him. His presence brings tension and irony.
The Wife: Simple and domestic, providing a contrast to the astrologer’s inner turmoil. She’s concerned with daily needs like sweets for their child.
-Structure
The story has a linear, compact structure:
Exposition: The astrologer’s routine in the marketplace.
Conflict: The confrontation with Guru Nayak.
Climax: The revelation of their shared past.
Resolution: The astrologer’s relief and return to domestic life.
This structure allows Narayan to build suspense and deliver a surprising yet satisfying twist.
- Style
Narayan’s style is simple, humorous, and ironic. His prose paints vivid images of the marketplace and characters while subtly critiquing human gullibility. The astrologer’s “sparkling eyes” and “saffron turban” become tools of deception, yet Narayan treats him with empathy, recognizing his struggles for survival. The dialogue is natural and filled with understated tension.
- Theme
Fate vs. Free Will: The astrologer’s chance meeting with Guru Nayak blurs the line between destiny and coincidence.
Guilt and Redemption: The story explores how past actions shape the present and how unexpected events can bring release.
Deception and Survival: The astrologer thrives on illusion but finds truth freeing in the end.
The Ordinary and the Extraordinary: Narayan shows how even a routine day can hold life-altering revelations.
while viewing task : ( Click Here )
An Astrologer’s Day: Page vs Screen
The Beginning
In Narayan’s story, the opening places us immediately in the vibrant chaos of a town marketplace. The astrologer spreads out his tools—cowrie shells, charts, sacred ash—under a tamarind tree. The setting is rich in sensory detail: flickering flares, the din of vendors, and the astrologer’s calculated appearance meant to attract customers. The tone is light and ironic, emphasizing his role as a performer rather than a seer.
The video, however, starts on a more solemn and mystical note. A guru or astrologer is seen giving intense advice, warning of planetary misalignments and recommending spiritual remedies like a sacred thread. This creates an immediate sense of emotional weight and urgency, setting the stage for a much more dramatic narrative.
Important Scenes
-The Market Scene
The short story treats the market as a backdrop of ordinary life—full of noise, lights, and human commerce. It adds humor and realism, highlighting how the astrologer blends into this environment with his pseudo-prophetic act.
The video transforms this setting into a cinematic space with heightened atmosphere. It uses lighting, music, and symbolism to emphasize mystery and spirituality, making the market feel almost otherworldly.
-The Encounter with Guru Nayak
In the original, the meeting between the astrologer and Guru Nayak is subtle yet gripping. The astrologer’s shrewdness and quick thinking allow him to recognize Nayak as the man he once tried to kill. The scene relies on sharp dialogue and irony, as the astrologer manipulates the situation to his advantage while secretly feeling immense relief at discovering Nayak is alive.
The video adapts this into a tense and emotional confrontation. Here, mystical insights reveal the protagonist’s violent past, and the dialogue leans more towards confession and karmic reckoning. The emotional intensity is dialed up, turning a moment of ironic relief into one of cathartic release.
-The Conversation with Wife
Narayan’s story ends with the astrologer returning home late at night. His wife, concerned only with sweets for their child, listens as he casually confesses his past crime and the relief of knowing his victim survived. This domestic exchange is understated, almost comedic, and reinforces the ordinariness of life despite the astrologer’s dramatic past.
In the video, the family scene carries heavier emotional undertones. The wife’s concern, the child’s innocence, and the protagonist’s inner turmoil are given more screen time, making this moment feel tender and bittersweet.
-The Climax Scene
The story’s climax is quiet but powerful: the astrologer learns the man he stabbed lived, freeing him from years of hidden guilt. The irony lies in how chance, not astrology, brings closure.
The video amplifies this climax. The protagonist faces emotional breakdowns and spiritual reckoning as past violence resurfaces. Astrology and divine warnings are portrayed as crucial in navigating the moment, giving the scene a sense of grandeur and fate.
-The End
Narayan ends his tale with domestic normalcy. The astrologer yawns, ready for sleep, his wife happy about sweets for their child. The contrast between his inner relief and the mundane family life underscores the story’s humor and subtle commentary on human nature.
The video’s ending, however, leans into emotional continuity. The family scene offers a sense of redemption and ongoing struggle, suggesting life’s challenges persist even after revelations.
Post Viewing task :
From Page to Screen: Reflections on An Astrologer’s Day
R.K. Narayan’s An Astrologer’s Day is a gem of minimalism and irony. Watching its cinematic adaptation, however, left me reflecting on how stories transform when they travel from page to screen.
-How faithful is the movie to the original short story?
The movie draws inspiration from Narayan’s plot but takes considerable creative liberties. While the original is a tightly woven narrative with subtle irony and an almost playful take on destiny, the film expands the astrologer’s world into a more dramatic, emotionally charged universe. The inclusion of astrological rituals, added family dynamics, and heightened tension turns a quiet tale of chance into an epic of karma and redemption. It’s not strictly faithful, but it’s faithful in spirit—magnifying themes of guilt, fate, and human fragility.
- Did my perception of the short story, characters, or situations change?
Absolutely. The astrologer in the short story feels like a cunning survivor, a man using his wits in a world that rewards shrewdness over sincerity. In the movie, he evolves into a tragic hero—a man haunted by his past and wrestling with cosmic forces beyond his control. Situations that seemed almost comical in the story—like the accidental reunion with Guru Nayak—gain dramatic weight in the film. It made me view the character less as a clever fraud and more as a deeply flawed, vulnerable human seeking redemption.
- Did I feel ‘aesthetic delight’ while watching?
Yes—especially in moments where the visual language transcends the dialogue. One such scene was the portrayal of the village under rainfall, with muted colors and melancholic music evoking nostalgia and loss. The delicate framing of the astrologer preparing his paraphernalia under dim light also struck a chord, creating an atmosphere thick with both mystery and melancholy. These visual choices added an aesthetic layer the text never directly offered.
- Did the screening help me understand the story better?
In some ways, yes. The film’s expansion of the astrologer’s backstory gave more emotional context to his decisions and guilt. It emphasized the weight of his past in a way the short story only hints at. However, it also diluted the original’s sharp irony and brevity, replacing them with melodrama. So, while I understood the character’s motivations more fully, I missed the story’s subtle humor and its clever play on coincidence.
- Was there a perfect moment in the story?
For me, the perfect moment remains the revelation scene in the original story—the instant Guru Nayak realizes the astrologer knows too much about his past. In the text, it’s done with masterful restraint; in the film, this scene is far more intense, with charged emotions and dramatic music. Both versions hold their own charm, but I prefer the quiet shock of the written version.
- If I were the director…
If I were remaking An Astrologer’s Day, I would return to Narayan’s minimalist style. I’d strip away the excessive melodrama and focus on atmosphere—the smoky, chaotic market, the astrologer’s performative setup, and the irony of two men meeting by chance years after a life-altering conflict. I’d use subtle visual cues (like lingering on the astrologer’s trembling hands when recognizing Guru Nayak) instead of lengthy exposition. And I’d end, as Narayan does, with quiet domesticity—a family sharing sweets under a modest roof, underscoring the ordinariness of lives shaped by extraordinary chance.
-Final Thought
Both the story and its adaptation offer different experiences: one is a sharp parable of human cunning and chance, the other an emotional journey through guilt and destiny. Watching the film didn’t replace the magic of Narayan’s prose for me, but it invited me to see the astrologer’s day in a new light—more dramatic, more tragic, but equally human.
References :
“An Astrologer’s Day | Short Film Based on R.K. Narayan’s Story.” YouTube, uploaded by Sasi Edits, 19 Aug. 2021, https://youtu.be/TkfrjYFQozA?si=a8sqPqVEVYnZQUnR.
“Screening of Short Film ‘An Astrologer’s Day’ – Worksheet.” Vaidehi09, 14 Sept. 2021, https://vaidehi09.blogspot.com/2021/09/worksheet-screening-of-short-film.html?m=1.
Thank you
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