The film was received with weak, scattered applause at its press preview at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Toronto:
Deepa Mehta's much awaitedMidnight's Children lushly captures much of India's recenthistory in an epic sweep, some of the magical realism ofSalman Rushdie's iconic novel after which it is named, and iseven funny.
But persistent as Saleem Sinai's snot, even unto the newcentury of cinema, is that exotic India package--snakecharmers in red turbans, magicians who say Abracadabra andslumdwellers who speak pucca English.
Mehta, Canada-settled director of Indian origin, slatherson the chutney much thicker than even Slumdog Millionaire,directed by Danny Boyle, who is British.
The film was received with weak, scattered applause atits press preview here at the Toronto International FilmFestival.
First, only a braveheart would attempt to film SalmanRushdie's much beloved Booker of Bookers awarded novel, whosekey strength is a rambunctious revelling in language, even ifthe film's screenplay is by Rushdie himself.
And India's history is familiar terrain with her earlierfilm, Earth. Midnight's Children is about a two children bornat the same time that India was born, August 14, 1947, and soare "handcuffed to history".
A nurse (the wonderful Seema Biswas) swaps the twobabies--Saleem Sinai and Shiva--and switches their destinies.
Following their lives till the next generation, the filmtakes in India's potted history--Partition, the liberation ofBangladesh, the Emergency.
The first half of the film is gloriously evoked andshot--by Mehta faithful Giles Nuttgens--but later, the editingmakes the film seem like a bullet point-version of Indianhistory. Despite this, tedium sets in at a length of 148minutes.
There's a Bollywood touch, with the formula of siblingsseparated at birth, whose destinies are forever intertwined,and endless coincidences.
Satya Bhabha (Saleem Sinai) is earnest but not quiteconvincing; Shahana Goswami as his mother brings a maturepresence; Rahul Bose as his uncle brings a stiff-upper lipflourish. Nitin Sawhney's music is evocative.
The end--as Seema, Saleem's former ayah, becomes the'mother' to his motherless son--emphasises a life defined byacts of love--and makes for a lingering feel-good climax.
But persistent as Saleem Sinai's snot, even unto the newcentury of cinema, is that exotic India package--snakecharmers in red turbans, magicians who say Abracadabra andslumdwellers who speak pucca English.
Mehta, Canada-settled director of Indian origin, slatherson the chutney much thicker than even Slumdog Millionaire,directed by Danny Boyle, who is British.
The film was received with weak, scattered applause atits press preview here at the Toronto International FilmFestival.
First, only a braveheart would attempt to film SalmanRushdie's much beloved Booker of Bookers awarded novel, whosekey strength is a rambunctious revelling in language, even ifthe film's screenplay is by Rushdie himself.
And India's history is familiar terrain with her earlierfilm, Earth. Midnight's Children is about a two children bornat the same time that India was born, August 14, 1947, and soare "handcuffed to history".
A nurse (the wonderful Seema Biswas) swaps the twobabies--Saleem Sinai and Shiva--and switches their destinies.
Following their lives till the next generation, the filmtakes in India's potted history--Partition, the liberation ofBangladesh, the Emergency.
The first half of the film is gloriously evoked andshot--by Mehta faithful Giles Nuttgens--but later, the editingmakes the film seem like a bullet point-version of Indianhistory. Despite this, tedium sets in at a length of 148minutes.
There's a Bollywood touch, with the formula of siblingsseparated at birth, whose destinies are forever intertwined,and endless coincidences.
Satya Bhabha (Saleem Sinai) is earnest but not quiteconvincing; Shahana Goswami as his mother brings a maturepresence; Rahul Bose as his uncle brings a stiff-upper lipflourish. Nitin Sawhney's music is evocative.
The end--as Seema, Saleem's former ayah, becomes the'mother' to his motherless son--emphasises a life defined byacts of love--and makes for a lingering feel-good climax.
