Echoes of History
A still from Midnight’s Children
Indian-born filmmaker Deepa Mehta’s wish has finally been granted and she had a screening of her beloved project Midnight’s Children in the city. During her promotional tour to the country, Deepa settled at the Taj Palace hotel for a tête-à-tête about her film, which she said seemed like a never-ending task.
The big screen adaptation of author Salman Ruhdie’s epic work covers over 60 years of the turbulent history of India and Pakistan. The screenplay written by Salman himself took two years and the first cut of the film was four hours long.
“I am a big Salman Rushdie fan. I love all his books but I picked this particular novel because there is something about the colonial history of India that is so fascinating. It’s an incredible story of an unlike hero. It has many moments which are very cinematic. I was petrified in the beginning. But the book had affected me a lot, so I had to make this film,” says Deepa.
Since its inception Salman and Deepa have had their share of differences but that’s given when two creative minds are at work together. “We had disagreed on so many things but they were healthy discussions. We never shouted at each other. We have been friends but during the course of the relation, our relationship strengthened further,” says Deepa.
Salman’s narration of Salim’s life came in much later but it was worth it. “I had wanted a non-filmy, non-professional and heartfelt voice to take the narrative forward. That is when we decided to go ahead with Salman’s voice.”
Talking about the cast of the film, Deepa says that she is lucky to have so many good actors come together for this project. “All the actors embraced their characters and everybody was transformed. Sidharth and Shriya Saran are going to blow everybody’s mind and Seema Biswas is superb. She has even been nominated for best supporting actress at the Canadian Screen Awards,” she informs.
Watching the film in Delhi was a surreal experience for Deepa, who says that it was wonderful to see the shots of Jama Masjid, Turkman Gate sitting in Delhi, which are a part of the city’s glorious history. Now she is excited to take it to Mumbai, where the book was born.
Deepa also tells us that the issues that the film talks about are still very relevant. She says, “The film talks about another India but the issues we are talking about — like what is justice, what is freedom, why is it important, what is love and what is family — are contemporary.”
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