Anita's character is the aunt of Saleem Sinai, the central figure in Midnight’s Children.
New Delhi:
For Indo-Canadian actress AnitaMajumdar, playing the role of a north Indian girl Emerald inDeepa Mehta's adaptation of Midnight's Children was achallenge and she was "awe-struck" while working with veteranBollywood actors.
Emerald, the aunt to main character Saleem Sinai inSalman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, ends up marryingGeneral Zulfikar, played by Rahul Bose who covers the Pakistanangle in the novel.
"Perhaps the greatest challenge was that I was a Canadianplaying a girl who was born and brought up in north Indiaduring a very specific time period. On a personal level, Ifelt confronted with nationality," says the actress of Bengaliheritage.
"Up until then I had really thought myself an 'Indian'and then suddenly working with all these noted Indian actorsit became very obvious to me that I will never fully beIndian. That the way I approach my work, the way I expressmyself, the experiences that have brought me to this place inlife are inherently Canadian.
"I had to really embrace my birth country after theshoot, which I think is very in-keeping the story ofMidnight's Children. Finding nationality and found familiesas the result of circumstances and immigration in the pursuitof happiness," the actress-danseuse told PTI.
Anita took admission into the National Theatre School ofCanada, where she graduated in 2004. Work on stage and screentook her to Toronto, where she now lives.
She says she fell in love with theatre because thetheatre didn't care about "ugly" or "pretty", but the theatrejust wanted good storytelling.
Asked about Mehta as a director, Anita says she had anidea of what she wanted, but she loves working with actors andtalking to them about what they think about the circumstancesand the character.
"She knows her film and story inside and out. She wouldread the corresponding passages from the book the night beforeshooting any particular scene. Deepa doesn't push any actorbeyond what she thinks they're capable of. If Deepa is askingyou to do more it means that's how good she thinks you are asan actor.
"I was awe-struck," she says, while working with veteranslike Shabana Azmi, Bose and Seema Biswas."I was shocked how loving Seema was to all of us. Andthen you would see her work and just be in awe how someone sotalented can be so humble.
"And Shabana Azmi. What can you say? She's aninstitution. She plays my mother in the film and there wouldbe times I would forget to act in the scene because I waswatching her give her dialogue. She is just as magnificent towatch live as she is on screen," she says.
Rahul has a wicked sense of humour and in so many wayschildlike and loves to laugh, says Anita, who first came toattention with her one-woman play Fish Eyes in which sheplayed three different parts.
Fish Eyes, written and performed by Anita, tells thestory of an Indian-dancing teenager who thinks her Indianroots and dance skills are the reason she's not popular withher white Canadian school friends. And her dance teacher (alsoplayed by Anita) tries to encourage her to embrace her skills.
On Rushdie as a screenwriter, Anita, a playwrightherself, says she thinks he needed to write the screenplay inorder to feel the full circle of the story.
"I think he's done a brilliant job on adapting the filminto a screenplay and I love that he lends his voice to thenarration voice of Saleem Sinai. No one knows the story ofMidnight's Children the way he does. It's a very personalstory for Salman. He describes Midnight's Children as hislove letter to India. I think it would have been strange hadhe not been a part of the creative process."
Emerald, the aunt to main character Saleem Sinai inSalman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, ends up marryingGeneral Zulfikar, played by Rahul Bose who covers the Pakistanangle in the novel.
"Perhaps the greatest challenge was that I was a Canadianplaying a girl who was born and brought up in north Indiaduring a very specific time period. On a personal level, Ifelt confronted with nationality," says the actress of Bengaliheritage.
"Up until then I had really thought myself an 'Indian'and then suddenly working with all these noted Indian actorsit became very obvious to me that I will never fully beIndian. That the way I approach my work, the way I expressmyself, the experiences that have brought me to this place inlife are inherently Canadian.
"I had to really embrace my birth country after theshoot, which I think is very in-keeping the story ofMidnight's Children. Finding nationality and found familiesas the result of circumstances and immigration in the pursuitof happiness," the actress-danseuse told PTI.
Anita took admission into the National Theatre School ofCanada, where she graduated in 2004. Work on stage and screentook her to Toronto, where she now lives.
She says she fell in love with theatre because thetheatre didn't care about "ugly" or "pretty", but the theatrejust wanted good storytelling.
Asked about Mehta as a director, Anita says she had anidea of what she wanted, but she loves working with actors andtalking to them about what they think about the circumstancesand the character.
"She knows her film and story inside and out. She wouldread the corresponding passages from the book the night beforeshooting any particular scene. Deepa doesn't push any actorbeyond what she thinks they're capable of. If Deepa is askingyou to do more it means that's how good she thinks you are asan actor.
"I was awe-struck," she says, while working with veteranslike Shabana Azmi, Bose and Seema Biswas."I was shocked how loving Seema was to all of us. Andthen you would see her work and just be in awe how someone sotalented can be so humble.
"And Shabana Azmi. What can you say? She's aninstitution. She plays my mother in the film and there wouldbe times I would forget to act in the scene because I waswatching her give her dialogue. She is just as magnificent towatch live as she is on screen," she says.
Rahul has a wicked sense of humour and in so many wayschildlike and loves to laugh, says Anita, who first came toattention with her one-woman play Fish Eyes in which sheplayed three different parts.
Fish Eyes, written and performed by Anita, tells thestory of an Indian-dancing teenager who thinks her Indianroots and dance skills are the reason she's not popular withher white Canadian school friends. And her dance teacher (alsoplayed by Anita) tries to encourage her to embrace her skills.
On Rushdie as a screenwriter, Anita, a playwrightherself, says she thinks he needed to write the screenplay inorder to feel the full circle of the story.
"I think he's done a brilliant job on adapting the filminto a screenplay and I love that he lends his voice to thenarration voice of Saleem Sinai. No one knows the story ofMidnight's Children the way he does. It's a very personalstory for Salman. He describes Midnight's Children as hislove letter to India. I think it would have been strange hadhe not been a part of the creative process."
