Midnight's Children
Deepa Mehta
The story: Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on Aug15, 1947, the moment of India’s Independence. His life and the lives of the other special children born in that first hour are inextricably linked and play out against the birthing pains of a nation. Saleem (Satya Bhabha) has telepathic powers, charismatic Shiva (Siddharth Narayan) is his nemesis and Parvati (Shriya Saran) is the witch who flits between the two men. Based on Salman Rushdie’s 1981 Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name.

History, as historian Arnold Toynbee once observed, is just one damn thing after another. And there is plenty of history to get through in Midnight’s Children.
There are the last days of the British empire leading to the partition of India and Pakistan, war between the two countries, and civil war in Pakistan resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. While a novel has the luxury of space to shape events into a narrative thread, a film, even one over two hours long like this, has much less leeway to do so.
After a while, the characters begin to feel like pawns of history, swept up in a tide that they have no control over.
Director Deepa Mehta (Fire, 1996, Earth, 1998, and Water, 2005) could have sharpened the focus of the film much more so that the backdrop of unfolding events does not overwhelm it. As it stands, it is not easy for the viewer to immerse himself in the story of the characters.
It is a pity because there is plenty of drama, melo- and otherwise, in the recounting of Saleem’s family history and the single rebellious act of a nurse that changes his fate as well as Shiva’s forever.
Satya Bhabha (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, 2010) is the somewhat passive Saleem, whose telepathic power is thrust upon him courtesy of a bulbous and snivelly nose, while Siddharth Narayan (Bommarillu, 2006) is the charismatic Shiva, whose ambitions take a dark turn.
Unfortunately, while the rivalry between Saleem and Shiva is established early on, it does not really pay off till late in the movie.
The impact of the relationship triangle with Parvati (Shriya Saran from Sivaji: The Boss, 2007) is also diminished, given the short shrift the character gets.
Still, there is a point to the tangled web of relations and relationships woven here: Who is whose son, who is whose mother, who is whose father?
The film’s resolution suggests that, in the end, you make your own family, just as you make your own country.
(ST)