Film
Midnight’s Children
Abhijit Ghosh-Dastidar
Deepa Mehta’s ‘‘Midnight’s
Children’’ (Hindi / English, colour, 146 mins), based on the novel and script by Salman Rushdie, also with a whimsical voice over narration by Rushdie, is rich and rambling. Faithful to the novel, and stuffed with a multiplicity of plots, the film has an opulence of silks, saris, songs and super natural glows. A young doctor, Dr Aziz (Rajat Kapur) travels on ‘Shikaras’ (boats) on Kashmir’s Dal Lake, of 1917, tending to patients. He marries Naseem (Sabana Azmi) the daughter of an affluent local, Ghani-saab (Anupam Kher). The couple shift to Agra and have three daughters, Amina (Shahana Goswami), Mumtaz and Emerald. Mian Abdullah (Dhritiman Chatterjee), a rich politician who decries India’s partition is shot in Agra. A young man, Nadir Khan watches the shooting and hides in Dr Aziz’s house. He marries Amina, but is unable to consummate the marriage. When security forces arrive, Nadir escapes again, leaving a ‘talaq’ (divorce) note. Major Zulfikar marries Mumtaz, and Amina remarries a polished business man, Ahmed Sinai (Ronit Roy). The Sinais move to Bombay of 1947, and purchase a large bungalow from a well suited colonialist, William (Charles Dance). An accordian player Willy and his singing companion Amita play in the lawns. At the precise moment of India’s independence, Shiva is born to Amina Sinai and Saleem is born to Amita, out of an illicit relationship with William. The babies are born as Pakistan and India resort to bloody riots. There are interecuts of thronging crowds as Jawaharlal Nehru announced freedom. In the hospital nurse Mary (Seema Biswas) interchanges the babies, as a revolutionary act ‘‘Let the rich be poor, and the poor rich’’. Saleem Sinai (Darshel Safari / Satya Bhabha) is brought up in affluence, while Shiva Willy (Purav Bhandare / Siddharth Naryan) grows up with the deprived. Following independence, when Muslim assets are frozen, the Sinais shift to Karachi. After ten years of age Saleem Sinai is sent to Rawalpindi to live with aunt Mumtaz and now Maj Gen Zulfikar. Nadir Khan re-establishes contact with Amina. The political scenario keeps shifting with army coup in Pakistan, wars with India in 1956 and 1971.
Since childhood, Saleem Sinai wrinkles his large nose and magically conjures other ‘‘midnight’s children’’. He indulges in hypnotic talks with himself, develops friendship with Parvati, a girl of his age, and cousin Jamila (Sohai Ali Khan). Shiva frequently beats him up. The surreal visions engulf reality, even though the focus is on Saleem’s story. Saleem is air dropped to East Pakistan in 1971, escapes to India wearing a lungi, and reaches Delhi. India’s emergency, forced sterilization, razing of slums and mass arrests follow. Saleem finds solace with Parvati, a snake charmer, who has a son from Shiva. From a jar of pickles, Saleem traces the old nurse, Mary in Mumbai. Parvati’s son is another magic child, of a new generation. The numerous characters are not allowed adequate screen presence. The huge swings of history, summarized in an episodic manner, make the tone exotic. The sets and costumes are sumtuous, and supernatural fuzzy, half light glow envelops wealth, poverty and pain. Saleem’s telepathy connects with other children, but the historical trajectory resembles a family soap opera. Gilles Nutgen’s camera ensures that every character is accounted for, framing action with the story. Nitin Sawnhey’s musical score provides sufficient pacing within the stories. Deepa Mehta’s film has a frantic tempo, but the tense scenes do not point to socio-realist parables.
Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 38, Mar31-Apr 6, 2013
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