Of Rushdie’s novels, it was not her first choice to adapt cinematically.
By Bala Chandran
WASHINGTON, DC: The “strongest female characters in a novel ever,” and “the search for identity and family” were two of the biggest reasons why she chose to direct the film Midnight’s Children, said Deepa Mehta, talking to the audience at a special screening of the film at the 27th annual Washington, DC International Film Festival here.
The film, based on the novel by Salman Rushdie – who has also written its screenplay and has lent his voice as the narrator – will open in theaters in the US on May 21st.
“People have asked me why Midnight’s Children. There are a couple of reasons. One is because, even though it is the story of Saleem Sinai, and his journey and the journey of India, post-colonial India, one of the reasons I really wanted to do it is because it has one of the strongest female characters in a novel ever,” said Mehta, speaking before the screening. “And that was so amazing. And the other reason is being an immigrant to Canada from India and having two homes and the search for an identity and the search for family, to be sort of coping with reinventing oneself… [you are] always questioning: ‘am I Canadian, am I Indian, Indian-Canadian. That search is the essence of Midnight’s Children.”
Taking questions from the audience after the screening, Mehta said she has been friends with Rushdie for about 10 years, and it was not Midnight’s Children, but Shalimar the Clown that interested her as a potential film initially.
“In fact, Richard Gere was really interested in playing the American Ambassador,” said Mehta talking of her relationship with the novelist and how the film transpired. “Salman was in Toronto for a book tour, and he had come over for dinner… and we had started about working together again. To this day, I don’t know why I said it because it was totally instinctive and it was totally spontaneous. And I asked him who has the rights to Midnight’s Children. And Salman said, I do. And I said, how do you feel about me making it. And he said, ‘Done.’… it really was as easy as that.”
Mehta acknowledged that making Midnight’s Children has been “intimidating.”
“It was intimidating; it is the Booker of the Bookers, it is an iconic book. When you take up a project like this, you have to put fear on the back seat, and say okay I will revisit it later. There is no time to have second thoughts,” she admitted, adding that “it was lovely working with Salman. He was generous, he was kind and he is very smart. He said here is the script. And I will see you when you are ready to show me the cut, because really there can only be one director. That trust was amazing from him.”
The film, which took Mehta three years to shoot, was partly shot in India, with locations mostly in Delhi, Mumbai and Agra, with most of it shot in Sri Lanka, and some in Karachi in Pakistan.
Mehta describes the book as “about the journey of a young man as he searches for his place in the world, as well as a country that is in search of its place in the world.”
“The note that the film ends in, I hope, captures what Salman Rushdie wanted with his novel and has said very often, that it’s his love letter to India. And I hope that the film also conveys that in many ways, it is my love letter to the country of my birth,” she said.
“One thing that we sort of understood very early on that is when you do a film, which is adapted from a book, the film is never going to be a facsimile of the book,” said Mehta. “The novels are usually much longer.”
Mehta said that her work got easier because apart from Rushdie having a “great cinematic sense,” he was in agreement with her when it came to deciding what to retain and what to discard from the book, for the film.
“We were on the same track right from the beginning,” said Mehta.
The director, who has seen plenty of controversy in India over her elements trilogy – Fire, Earth and Water – said she was “amazed” that Midnight’s Children went through the Indian censor board without a single cut.
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