“ Born in the hour of India’s freedom. Handcuffed to history.”
Join us on October 23rd as Metro Morning host Matt Galloway sits down with Deepa Mehta to talk about her movie Midnight’s Children, an epic film based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by Salmon Rushdie.
Midnight’s Children
At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as India declares independence from Great Britain, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor woman, and Shiva, the offspring of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives become mysteriously intertwined and are inextricably linked to India’s whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters.
From the unlikely romance of Saleem’s grandparents to the birth of his own son, Midnight’s Children is a journey at once sweeping in scope and yet intimate in tone. Hopeful, comic and magical – the film conjures images and characters as rich and unforgettable as India herself.
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta is a filmmaker who has been described as a “transnational artist”. Her movies are known for telling universally meaningful stories and have played at every major film festival; receiving awards and recognition, and have been distributed around the world. Deepa was born in India and received a degree in philosophy from the University of New Delhi. Before immigrating to Canada, she began her career making documentaries in India.
Deepa is the recent recipient of the 2012 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Film. She has received numerous honorary degrees and many awards and honours, among them: The Life of Distinction Award from the Canadian Centre of Diversity, The Excellence in the Arts Award from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and the Woman of Distinction, President’s Award from the YMCA. Her film, Water, the third film in the Elemental Trilogy: Fire, Earth, Water, received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Foreign Film category.
