''Midnight's Children'' is a 2012

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

's 1981 novel. The film features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

Satya Bhabha Satya Sorab Bhabha (born 13 December 1983) is a British actor known for his role as Matthew Patel in the 2010 film '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' and the 2023 animated series '' Scott Pilgrim Takes Off'', and for his recurring role as Shivran ...

Shriya Saran Shriya Saran Bhatnagar ( born 11 September 1982) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu language, Telugu, Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films. Although Saran aspired to become a dancer, she became an actress and made her film deb ...

, Siddharth,

Ronit Roy Ronit Bose Roy (born 11 October 1965) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Hindi television and films and Bengali films. One of the highest paid television actor in India, he has earned numerous accolades including a Filmfare Award, five ...

Anupam Kher Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group ' Yatrik' in the ...

Seema Biswas Seema Biswas (born 14 January 1965) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and the theatre. She gained prominence after playing the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur, Shekhar Kapur's film ''Bandit Queen'' (1994), for which she won the ...

Shahana Goswami Shahana Goswami (born ) is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of Indian economist and writer Omkar Goswami. She became known for her supporting role in the musical drama film ''Rock On!!'' (2008), which won her the Filmfare Critics Award ...

, Samrat Chakrabarti,

Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor and athlete who works in Hindi films. Bose is the president of Rugby India. He has appeared in Bengali films such as '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', '' Kalpurush'', '' Anuranan'', '' Antaheen'', ''L ...

Soha Ali Khan Soha Ali Khan Pataudi (born 4 October 1978) is an Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, Bengali, and English films. She is the younger daughter of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan, of Bhopal, ...

, Anita Majumdar and

Darsheel Safary Darsheel Safary (born 9 March 1997) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi, Gujarati films and television. Safary made his film debut with the leading role of a dyslexic student in Aamir Khan's directorial debut, the critically acclaimed drama ...

. With a screenplay by Rushdie and directed by

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2 ...

, the film began principal photography in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, in February 2011 and wrapped in May 2011. Shooting was kept a secret as Mehta feared protests by

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

groups. The film was shown at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

, the

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festi ...

, and the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

. The film was also a nominee for Best Picture and seven other categories at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards, winning two awards.

Plot

The film begins with narrator Saleem Sinai describing his birth at the exact moment of Indian independence. His narrative then jumps back to 1917 Kashmir where his grandfather Dr. Aadam Aziz goes to the Ghani mansion to assess the landlord's sick daughter Nasim, whom the doctor eventually marries. Then the film jumps to

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

in 1942, where Saleem describes his grandfather as contracting a 'disease of optimism' of those times and being an ardent supporter of politician Mian Abdullah. Abdullah is assassinated returning from a party with his secretary Nadir Khan, but Nadir flees to Dr. Aziz's house where Aziz shelters him in his cellar. Aziz and Nasim have three daughters, Alia, Mumtaz and Emerald, and during Nadir's stay Mumtaz develops a bond with him resulting in their private marriage. Soon the marriage is broken up when General Zulfikar learns of his presence in the cellar. Devastated by the divorce, Mumtaz finds solace in the arms of wealthy entrepreneur Ahmed Sinai. The two marry and move to Bombay where they buy a villa from wealthy Englishman William Methwold, and Mumtaz takes up a new name, Amina Sinai. At the villa an accordionist, Wee Willie Winkie and his wife, used to come to sing and entertain and it transpires that the wife is carrying Methwold's child. Amina too is carrying a child then. Both go into labour on 14 August and give birth to boys at the moment of India's independence. However a nurse Mary, driven by love for her revolutionary partner, decides to switch the name tags of the two rich and poor infants, altering their fates. Mary is soon consumed by guilt and tries to make amends by deciding to become Saleem's ''ayah'' (

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

). Saleem, meant for poverty, has a life of privilege and Shiva, the one meant for fortune, leads an impoverished life on the streets. But things are not ideal for Saleem as his family pressurises him to be different and special, and his father becomes an alcoholic. Saleem soon starts hearing voices which he realises he can control, and discovers these are the voices of the other Midnight's Children born in the first hour of independence, all of whom have special powers. The most prominent of them however are Shiva, Parvati-the-witch who is Saleem's only supporter, and Saleem himself with telepathic capabilities. Wanting to make good use of his power he forms the Midnight's Children's conference, destined to serve the nation. But things go against him as an accident reveals that Saleem's blood type doesn't match his parents, revealing that he's not his parents' true child. In shock they send him away to his aunt Emerald, now the wife of General Zulfikar and living in Pakistan. In exile Saleem learns about power, politics and struggle. He grows distraught by the divisions in the conference caused by the loss of innocence and the seeping of language and class differences amongst the members, and he disbands it. He is eventually recalled back to his family which has now moved to Karachi, but finds that his father has still not accepted him. Mary realises that the only way to make amends is by telling his parents about the swapping of the name tags at birth. Enraged by this, Saleem's father forces him to undergo an operation on his enormous and constantly dripping nose. Some years later the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 starts, during which Saleem's parents are killed when their house is bombed. Being injured in the bombing, he suffers a memory loss and wakes up in 1971. He is then enrolled in the army for his sniffing skills and becomes part of a crew sent to fight in East Pakistan which, with the help of India, becomes Bangladesh. Still suffering amnesia, he joins a celebrating crowd including victorious Indian soldiers led by Shiva, now a war-hero owing to his powers, and also some magicians from India including Parvati-the-witch. Recognising Saleem she calls to him, breaking his spell of amnesia, and introduces him to snake charmer Picture Singh, the magicians' leader. On hearing of Saleem's tough journey Parvati takes him to the conjurers ghetto in New Delhi, smuggling him over the border in her basket of invisibility. They fall in love but Saleem, ambitious to do something big, leaves Parvati giving an excuse that he can't marry her because he is impotent. Realising the futility of his ambitions he returns but finds Parvati is expecting a baby by Shiva, whom she had summoned to visit her by casting a spell. Saleem says he will raise it as his own son and the baby, named Aadam, becomes one of many forming the next generation of magical children being born at the moment of the declaration of Emergency by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. Gandhi, an ardent believer in horoscopes, is advised that the Midnight's Children have powers that are a threat to her supremacy, and so under the guise of a sterilisation programme she orders their incarceration. Shiva, leading the project and in search of Saleem, bulldozes the entire ghetto (killing countless) and captures Saleem. Under torture Saleem gives information about the other children, who are soon incarcerated and sterilized to drain their powers. The Emergency ends when the PM is defeated in an election, the children are all simultaneously released (the guards all having abandoned the complex into the night) and Shiva dies in a road accident as he attempts to flee the country pursued by authorities for his crimes. Saleem finds his son living with Picture Singh, who tells him Parvati died in the ghetto clearance. Reunited, the three have lunch at a restaurant where Saleem realizes the chutney he is eating is similar to the chutney his ayah Mary used to prepare for him in childhood. He obtains the address of the Bombay-based chutney company and they set out to find it. There Saleem and Mary, the company's owner, are overjoyed to be reunited and the film concludes as Saleem's son, Aadam, utters his first-ever word.

Cast

Saleem Sinai Saleem Sinai is the protagonist of the Booker Prize-winning novel ''Midnight's Children'' by Salman Rushdie. His life is closely intertwined with the events that take place in his homeland of pre- and post-colonial India, and newly created Pakist ...

as Parvati-the-witch * Siddharth as Shiva *

as Saleem Sinai (as a child) *

as Ghani *

as Naseem *

Neha Mahajan Neha Mahajan is an Indian actress and model known for her works predominantly in Marathi and Hindi films, in addition to Marathi theatre. Mahajan made her debut in 2012, with the English-language Canadian-British production ''Midnight's Children ...

as Young Naseem *

as Mary *

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing intimidating, authoritarian characters and villains. Dance started his career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) before appearing in film an ...

as William Methwold * Samrat Chakrabarti as

Wee Willie Winkie "Wee Willie Winkie" is a Scottish nursery rhyme whose protagonist has become popular as a personification of sleep. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13711. Scots poet William Miller (1810-1872), appears to have popularised a pre-existin ...

Rajat Kapoor Rajat Kapoor is an Indian actor, filmmaker and playwright who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and early career Rajat Kapoor was born in Delhi, India and grew up in Old Delhi. In 1983 he joined the theatre group Chingari in Delhi. In 1985 he ...

as Aadam Aziz *

as Jamila *

as Zulfikar *

Anita Majumdar Anita Majumdar is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is best known for her role in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC television film ''Murder Unveiled'' for which she received the Best Actress award at the 2005 Asian Festival of Firs ...

as Emerald *

as Amina *

Chandan Roy Sanyal Chandan Roy Sanyal (born 30 January 1980) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in the Hindi and Bengali language films of India. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, he made his acting debut in the 2006 film '' Rang de Basant ...

as Joseph D'Costa *

as Ahmed Sinai *

as Picture Singh * Shikha Talsania as Alia * Zaib Shaikh as Nadir Khan *

Sarita Choudhury Sarita Catherine Louise Choudhury (born August 18, 1966) is a British actress. She made her screen debut starring in the romantic drama film ''Mississippi Masala'' (1991). She later appeared in American and international film productions, includ ...

Vinay Pathak Vinay Pathak (born 27 July 1968) is an Indian theater and film actor. He has starred in many films including '' Khosla Ka Ghosla,'' '' Bheja Fry,'' ''Island City'' and '' Johnny Gaddaar'' and had a supporting role in movies like ''Jism'', '' ...

as Hardy * Kapila Jeyawardena as Governor *

Ranvir Shorey Ranvir Shorey (born 18 August 1972) is an Indian actor and former video jockey. Since making his debut in '' Ek Chhotisi Love Story'' (2002), he has worked in both mainstream and independent cinema. His commercially successful ventures include ...

as Laurel *

Suresh Menon Suresh Menon (born 10 January 1967) is an Indian actor, comedian and television personality. Career Menon has appeared in movies including '' Grand Masti'', '' Phir Hera Pheri'', '' Partner'', '' Fool N Final'', '' Krazzy 4'', '' Deewane Huye ...

as Field Marshal * G.R Perera as Astrologer *

Rajesh Khera Rajesh Khera (''Rājēśa Khērā'') is an Indian television actor and voice actor who has acted in many Hindi films and is remembered for the role of fashion designer Maddy in '' Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin''. He was recently seen as a contender ...

, narrator * Samila Vidanage (cameo)

Production

In 2008, Mehta and Salman Rushdie decided to collaborate on a film together. At first Mehta wanted to adapt his novel '' Shalimar the Clown'', but she eventually decided on ''Midnight's Children'' instead. Rushdie spent the next two years paring down the 600-page book into a 130-page script. Rushdie told the BBC in an interview that he sold the rights to the film for $1. The casting process began in early 2010. For the role of the protagonist Saleem Sinai, Mehta wanted

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

, but his salary was outside of the film's budget. She decided to cast British actor

instead after seeing video of him performing in a play.

Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1986) is an Indian actress, filmmaker, and politician serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Mandi Lok Sabha constituency, Mandi since June 2024. Known for her portrayals of strong-willed, u ...

and

Rani Mukerji Rani Mukerji (; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of multiple accolades, including eight Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has featured in listings of the leading and hi ...

were originally cast as Emerald and Amina, but both had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts.

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spa ...

was also forced to pull out due to conflicts with ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. After a ...

'' and

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

opted out of the film after she had her first child.

(who had earlier been slated to play Saleem in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's aborted version of the novel) was selected for the role of Emerald's husband Zulfikar and

was cast as Saleem's grandmother Naseem. Principal shooting began in February 2011 in

as Mehta feared protests by Muslim fundamentalists if the film was shot in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and by Indian National Congress & Gandhi family loyalists if it was made in Mumbai. Cast members had secrecy clauses added to their contracts to help keep the production quiet. Production design was handled by Mehta's brother Dilip Mehta. Under his direction, authentic

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

-style furniture, props and costumes were shipped in from India. Shooting was briefly interrupted when

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

complained to the Sri Lanka government about the film and the crew was ordered to halt production. Mehta appealed to President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

who agreed to let filming continue. ''Winds of Change'' was the working title of the film during the shooting. Filming lasted a total of 69 days from February to May 2011. In all, 800 extras were used.

Release

The film premiered on 9 September 2012 at the

with repeat screenings on the 10th and 27th. The film had its Indian premiere on 10 December 2012 at the 17th

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

. After the premiere show,

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

leaders came against the movie alleging that the film portrays former

Indian Prime Minister The prime minister of India (ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the e ...

and some other leaders in a negative manner. Following the allegations, any further screening of the film in the festival was stopped, an act which drew heavy criticism. After initial fears that the movie would not find a distributor in India, the distribution rights were acquired by the Mumbai-based company PVR Pictures. In India, the film was released on 1 February 2013 with minimal cuts owing to clever casting & script treatment by Mehta. "Deepa Mehta didn't want to draw any attention to Sarita Chowdhary who plays Mrs Gandhi but looks nothing like her. The whole strategy was to not focus attention on the character and the actress playing the role."

Critical reception

Nishi Tiwari for

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

gave 3/5 stars and said: "''Midnight's Children'' is a must watch for people who’ve yearned to experience Salman Rushdie iconic storytelling in a more accessible format." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

it has a 41% rating based on 59 reviews. The website's critical consensus states that "Though ''Midnight's Children'' is beautiful to look at and poignant in spots, its script is too indulgent and Deepa Mehta's direction, though ambitious, fails to bring the story together cohesively." Reviews include: "There are some beautiful moments and some decent performances, but it's also something of a slog and ultimately fails to engage on an emotional level", "There's enough here to entertain - and to send audiences back to the book", and "Watchable without ever feeling essential." For an academic overview of the adaptations of ''Midnight's Children'', see Mendes and Kuortti (2016).

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Critical reception

References

External links