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The gala premiere of the much awaited film “Midnight’s Children,” directed by Deepa Mehta was one of the major attractions of IFFK 2012. It was the film’s first public screening in India. Based on the acclaimed novel written by Salman Rushdie, the film was screened at Anjali Theatre. The rush was such that it forced Minister Ganesh Kumar had to sit on the floor to watch the movie!
The movie is a riveting tale of Saleem Sinai, a boy born at the exact time of India’s Independence. From the unlikely romance of Saleem’s grandparents to the birth of his own son, the movie is a journey at once sweeping in scope and yet intimate in tone. Hopeful, comic and magical – the film conjures images and characters as rich and unforgettable as India herself. The cast include Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy, Rahul Bose, Anupam Kher, Darsheel Safary, Soha Ali Khan, Shabana Azmi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
Love letter to India
“Salman Rushdie has often said that his novel “Midnight’s Children” is his love letter to India. In its essence the movie is about the search for a home, an identity and a family. A quest that is universal and familiar to us all. I’m thrilled to be here in Kerala. My love affair with Kerala started with my film “Fire”,” said Deepa Mehta.
Was Salman Rushdie ready to write the script for the film? Deepa replies, “He did not want to write in the beginning. He has healthy and pragmatic regard for his work. Also he has a very good cinematic sense. Of course, there were arguments between us. But there was none that couldn’t be resolved.”
The film’s producer David Hamilton too had sweet memories about God’s Own Country. “I was here with “Fire”. I was stunned to see the response to the film “Water”. So I had decided that any film we show should be here first. That’s the reason we do the premiere of “Midnight’s Children” here,” he added.
Recalling the occasion when Salman Rushdie watched the film, Deepa Mehta said, “I was very nervous. There was dead silence in the end. Rushdie was crying.” She recalled that Rushdie had sent an e-mail saying that he wanted to know about the response in Kerala once the screening is over.
As a director, she had been given complete freedom by Rushdie in deleting and adding certain scenes in the film. Interestingly, the voice over in the film is done by the maverick writer himself.
Magical realism
Deepa Mehta finds the words in the book as stunning. It is based on realism opposite to magic. The challenge she faced was how to make dream sequences magical. She said such scenes were shot rooted in reality.
The film was shot in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Deepa said it was difficult to recreate the look of 1920s and 40s in Mumbai and New Delhi. So they had to shoot those scenes in Sri Lanka. According to her, Sri Lanka hasn’t changed much.
“Midnight’s Children” has received wide acclaim at the Telluride and Toronto International film festivals. It is slated for release in February 2013 in India.
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