A connection between books and Bollywood? Yes, very much.

Bollywood is well tuned into books and through the ages, they have been adapting books for the big screen. Remember the blockbuster response last year to ‘Haider’ — an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chetan Bhagat’s ‘2 States’?

The trend of B-town films getting ‘book’-ed has just hit a new ‘high’.

The year 2015’s first release to be based on a book will be Anurag Kashyap’s much-awaited ‘Bombay Velvet’ that features Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and KJo. Set in the ‘60s, it is inspired from Gyan Prakash’s ‘Mumbai Fables’.

Then there’s Abhishek Kapoor’s ‘Fitoor’, a modern take on Charles Dickens’ novel ‘The Great Expectations’, which was to hit the theaters this year, but has now been pushed ahead. After ‘Ek the Tiger’, Kaif will once again be seen playing a Pakistani on screen. Recently, Kat and Aditya wrapped up the Kashmir schedule and were currently shooting for ‘Fitoor’ in Delhi. While talking to a leading tabloid, a source revealed, “The movie depicts the relationship between three characters — a young Kashmiri boy named Noor (Aditya), his ladylove Firdaus (Katrina) and the Begum (Rekha).”

‘Khoobsurat’ jodi Fawad Khan and Sonam Kapoor may join hands for the screen adaptation of author Anuja Chauhan’s bestseller ‘Battle For Bittora’. Director Shashanka Ghosh said he is writing the script of the movie with the Pakistani heartthrob Khan and the Kapoor girl in mind.

The buzz is that Fawad will play the role of Zain Altaf Khan, the scion of a North Indian royal family, who mixes good-looks with idealism, backed by an ambition for a political career. Sonam is likely to be seen as Jinni, an animation artist working in Mumbai, who is asked by her bossy grandmother to contest the Lok Sabha elections from their native place, Bittora.

Another director going this way is Tigmanshu Dhulia. He has announced plans of making a film based on Aashu Patel’s ‘Madam X’ which is focused on the underworld. He revealed that he decided to make this film because of its “interesting climax” and “unique story”.

“What struck me was the girl’s struggle in this book. This girl is very modern. She was wooing three guys who were dons at a time and then eventually she vanished. I like the story because of its end,” the filmmaker said to IANS during the launch of the book Madam X.

According to the latest reports, the Queen of Bollywood — Kangana Ranaut is all set to star opposite Saif Ali Khan in the movie adaptation of the Japanese best-selling novel ‘The Devotion of Suspect X.’ Chote Nawab will be seen playing an investigator in the film. ‘Kahaani’ fame director Sujoy Ghosh has been signed on to direct the Indian version and the producer is Ekta Kapoor.

Chetan Bhagat is for sure, trending here. ‘Aashiqui 2’ director Mohit Suri is also ready to spin out Bhagat’s latest novel — ‘Half Girlfriend’. It is a love story about Madhav, a Bihari boy, who falls in a love with Riya, who belongs to an affluent family in Delhi. The star cast of the film is yet to be finalized. Yet another Bhagat’s novel — ‘Revolution 2020’ set against the backdrop of a corrupt system and interspersed with a love story, will be produced by UTV Motion Pictures.

Yes, Bollywood is using every trick in the book. And, looking at success stories like ‘3 Idiots’, ‘2 States’ , ‘Haider’, ‘Maqbool’, ‘The Namesake’, ‘The Blue Umbrella’ — we can for sure look forward to get ‘book-ed’. And how!