Not so unfilmable after all

Midnight’s Children :

Ruwini Jayawardana

Often dubbed unfilmable Salman Rushdie’s 1980 Booker Prize winning novel Midnight’s Children has been made into a film of the same name by renowned filmmaker Deepa Metha. The movie is a generational saga which starts off with the protagonist’s grandparents’ meeting and marriage and goes on to trace the incidents connected with three generations. Midnight’s Children follows Saleem Sinai, born in 1947 at midnight on the day India declared independence from the British. Interestingly all the children born on this night are united by their magical powers.

Saleem’s nemesis Shiva too is born at the same hospital and ward but into a poverty stricken family while Saleem is from a well-to-do background. The truth is that it should have been vice versa since the babies were switched at birth.

It is often questioned why Deepa Metha dwells on the ancestors to a great extent at the first half of the movie. This is actually the foundation which sets stage for Saleem’s background and personality. It helps us to understand not only his roots but the philosophies of the characters with whom he grew up with and their bloodline. This is of utter importance in a story which questions Saleem’s identity and the animosity between the haves and have-nots. Mehta handles the scenes depicting India’s postcolonial history well. Much like Saleem’s disillusion, post independent India’s hopes too seem bleak. All the good things that the first half the movie promises does not materialize in the second.

The settings and background which shifts between Bangladesh to Pakistan and later back to India are flawless. Though the entire project is shot in Sri Lanka you get the feeling that you are actually transported back in time and into a foreign land. Some of the most picturesque scenes like those of the S. Thomas’ College chapel and the paddy fields which Saleem struggles through in a period of crisis are embedded in the mind of those who have watched the film.

The scenes which project the slum where Parvathi the witch lives is another memorable series which are a contrast to those mentioned above but nevertheless are well detailed. The Film Team should be commended for their effort in moulding a miniature India and Pakistan in Sri Lankan soil. The production designing and cinematography of Midnight’s Children are first-rate.

Metha is no stranger to dealing with magic realism. She has dealt with the topic in productions like ‘Heaven on Earth.’She takes one stride ahead in her latest project, giving Rushdie’s outlook on the matter a new twist. This is not a story which can be taken at face value but one which needs to be studied at a close range to grasp Rushdie’s symbolism and Metha’s visual storytelling techniques. Humour and the spirit in which the story is narrated are other key points which make the movie watchable.

Satya Bhabha gives a commendable performance as the protagonist. Shriya Saran is charming as Parvathi. Siddharth may be the baddie of the tale but he makes a highly charismatic villain. Though his screen presence is inadequate he manages to eclipse all the other characters once he appears on screen.

Ronit Roy is excellent as Ahmed Sinai, the doting and brutal father. Rahul Bose is mind-blowing as General Zulfikar. Seema Biswas delivers an excellent performance as the nurse Mary. Shabana Azmi, Soha Ali Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Sarita Choudhary, Shahana Goswami and Darsheel Safary make up the rest of the talented cast.

One of the few pitfalls of the project is that the second half seems to run for too long. Character development of some of the supporting roles is another factor that the director should have taken into account. There is no doubt that Rushdie’s novel is complex. Making a visual display from the book is a challenge indeed but one that Metha has taken on and overcome admiringly. In another filmmaker’s hands it would have become lost in its translation to the big screen but with the Oscar nominated film director’s touch, its visual artistry !