Midnight's Children (2012)

A pair of children, born within moments of India gaining independence from Britain, grow up in the country that is nothing like their parent's generation.

Director:

Deepa Mehta

Writers:

Salman Rushdie (screenplay), Salman Rushdie (based on a book by)

Stars:

Rajat Kapoor, Vansh Bhardwaj, Anupam Kher

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rajat Kapoor	...	Aadam Aziz
Vansh Bhardwaj	...	Boatman
Anupam Kher	...	Ghani
Neha Mahajan	...	Young Naseem
Dhritiman Chatterjee	...	Mian Abdullah (as Dhritiman Chaterji)
Kusum Haidar	...	Rani of Cooch Naheen (as Kusum Haider)
Zaib Shaikh	...	Nadir Khan
Kabir Singh Chowdhry	...	Mian's Assassin
Shabana Azmi	...	Naseem
Anita Majumdar	...	Emerald
Shahana Goswami	...	Mumtaz / Amina
Shikha Talsania	...	Alia
Rahul Bose	...	Zulfikar
Hasitha Samarasekara	...	Adjutant
Ronit Roy	...	Ahmed Sinai

Storyline

A pair of children, born within moments of India gaining independence from Britain, grow up in the country that is nothing like their parent's generation.

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Plot Keywords:

children | india | screenplay adapted by author | f rated | factory owner | 

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Taglines:

A child and country were born at midnight once upon a time

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English Hindi Urdu

Release Date:

26 December 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Hijos de la media noche

Filming Locations:

Sri Lanka

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,200, 28 April 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$139,644, 26 May 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

David Hamilton Productions,Hamilton Mehta Productions,Number 9 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

New-comer, Satya Bhabha was cast as Saleem Sinai after the role had been declined by both Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor.

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Goofs

Saleem goes to Karachi, Pakistan after leaving Aunt Emerald's house. After coming out of the railway station, the taxi that takes him home is an Ambassador car manufactured by HM "Hindustan Motors", available only in India.

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Soundtracks

Bhavanaa
Written by Nitin Sawhney and Saroj Sawhney
Performed by Samidha Joglekar

User Reviews

A Satisfactory (not great) Adaptation of a Literary Masterpiece!

A satisfactory (not great) adaptation of a Literary Masterpiece! This might be Deepa Mehta's most ambitious film till date, but not her best one.

The sets, the cinematography and the acting are superb; these are the main plus points for the movie. The author (Salman Rushdie) himself does the narration, which gives an intimate feel. The movie's splendid cast is truly fine; with so many experienced actors being a part of it. Shahana Goswami, Seema Biswas and Darsheel Safary truly stand out.

The movie could have been much better if a few things could have been avoided. First and the primary one being, she broke the first rule of novel adaptations - never let the original author adapt his own book. This causes the screenplay to be flabby, and sometimes overstretched. He struggles to incorporate most of his teeming subplots; the result is that it becomes too difficult to find a narrative focus.The editing and the background score could have been better. The characters seem a little underdeveloped and fail to make an emotional connection. And the screenplay fails to soulfully blend the supernatural realism with the historic political sweep of the story.

The Book might be 'Booker of Bookers', but the movie fails to reach that height. It's still a satisfactory watch for all the book's fans and lovers of unusual cinema.