The film, through happy and sad times, keeps the viewer engaged by the stellar acting, historic sets and music (I was excited to hear an Indian version of Chubby Checker’s The Twist), and beautiful, almost sensual, backdrops. As the 533-page novel is turned into a 140-minute long film, its breadth doesn’t seem to suffer. Ms. Mehta seems to effortlessly share four generations, three wars, sixty-four locations, 127 speaking parts, and fifteen newborn babies. As with a coming of age tale, there is a bit of violence. Thankfully, to me, Partition violence is only very briefly mentioned and represented by a short morgue scene. It’s a powerful film and, I think, best watched without young children. It could be seen with older children to help fill in emotionally their understanding of modern Indian history. As much as the film captivates the viewer on the small screen, where I saw it, it will, undoubtedly be stunning on the big screen. I highly recommend this film – it was worth the wait for the constellation of talent to have this stunning novel brought to cinema. Note: All images are used with permission.
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by her radical fiancé Joe to fight for justice and “let the rich be poor and the poor be rich.” She switches two boys born at the stroke of midnight, assigning Saleem, actually the illegitimate son of a poor woman, to wealthy Ahmed and Amina. In turn, Amina’s baby gets the wrist tag of the “poor” mother, and is named Shiva. And so the journey of rich as poor and poor as rich is begun. Almost immediately, Mary, an observant Catholic, feels remorse and soon offers herself to the wealthy family to serve as Ayah, or nanny. As such, she plays a strong role in raising Saleem. As Saleem becomes a boy, he has visions of a group of children his age. They are the Midnight’s Children, those born coincident with or minutes after the birth of India. The closer they are to the actual midnight birth, such as Saleem and Shiva, the more magic that they have. For example, one can fly, another can conjure, and one can grow or shrink their body dynamically. All of their lives, especially those of Shiva and Saleem, are mysteriously intertwined with the unfolding history of India; “we were the promises of Independence and, like all promises, made to be broken.” We see war with Pakistan, the birth of Bangladesh, Indira Gandhi’s Emergency and mass arrests of 1975-1977. But we also see concomitant struggle amongst the children, love and loss, happiness and despair. “A child and a country were born at midnight, once upon a time. Great things were expected of us both. The truth has been less glorious than the dream. But we have survived and made our way. And our lives have been, in spite of everything, acts of love.” This is essentially a coming of age story both for a country and for people. For me, and no doubt for many others who may or may not have actually lived through that time, there is something deeply resonant and moving about India’s first Prime Minister Nehru’s words as the new country was born as a “tryst with destiny.” Historical footage of that speech helps to solidly ground the film contextually. That is cemented as we see how history shapes the two boys – Saleem growing up in privilege but suffering through war and ending up at times in all of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, with Shiva becoming a cold but successful Indian military leader. Salman Rushdie found a perfect partner in Deepa Mehta to bring his story to the screen. As in her Trilogy, she works with a great cast (some previously unknown and others among the biggest stars of Indian cinema, such as Shabana Azmi, Sarita Choudhury, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Ronit Roy, Charles Dance, and Rahul Bose), compelling music, and great cinematography. Director of photography Giles Nutigens has worked with Mehta on all of the Trilogy films, and the lush and beautifully composed scenes (best seen, I believe, in Water) come to life just as in the earlier films. Saathee.com
Bombay Talkies Official Selection at the 66th Cannes Film Festival The film Bombay Talkies has officially been selected for a Gala screening on May 19, 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival 2013. The film is directed by India’s leading filmmakers including Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee. The film is a celebration of the commemoration of 100 years of Indian Cinema. The movie is a collection of four stories and hits theatres on May 3rd in India. It includes Rani Mukerji, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Randeep Hooda and Saqib Saleem; including cameos by Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif. All four directors are expected to attend the Gala Screening together. Karan Johar comments on the news, “Extremely honored that our omnibus endeavor has been officially selected at Cannes…. Can’t wait to walk the red carpet with Dibakar, Anurag and Zoya.” Zoya Akhtar says, “I have never been to Cannes and I always felt if I go it should be with a film. Things worked out even better as it’s not just a film but also 3 friends Karan, Dibakar and Anurag with me. It’s going to be a blast.” Dibakar Banerjee says, “Thrilled to walk the red carpet following Karan, Zoya and Anurag leading the way and representing Indian cinema!” Kashyap, the only director from the quartet who debuted at the Cannes back in 2011 says, “I am so happy our film is screening at Cannes. Happy to be back there.” Commenting on the announcement, Ashi Dua of Flying Unicorn Entertainment, the co-producer of the film said, “I am extremely happy that the film has received such an overwhelming response internationally. This means many more people across the globe will be celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema with us” 28
May 2013