Midnight's Children at risk of not being screened in India, says director

A new film adaptation of Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie's epic novel about India after independence, risks not being shown in the author's native land. The film's director, Deepa Mehta, revealed at its premiere in Toronto at the weekend that no Indian distributor had yet bought rights to the film. "Salman has often said that the book was his love letter to India. I think the film reflects that love. What a pity if insecure politicians deprive the people of India to make up their own minds about what the film means, or does not mean, to them," the Hindustan Times quoted the Indian-Canadian director as saying. The book, which follows the life of a boy born with magical powers at the exact moment of India gaining its independence in 1947, was first published in 1981. A broad, colourful allegorical sweep through 30 years of history and social change, its deeply negative portrayal of the late prime minister Indira Gandhi and her suspension of democracy in India between 1975 and 1977 – a period known as The Emergency – led to Gandhi suing the author for defamation. The current president of the ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, is the widow of Indira Gandhi's late son Rajiv. Her son, Rahul, is seen as a potential future prime minister. The present Indian government is very sensitive to criticism. Last week an article in the Washington Post caused a storm for depicting the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, as ineffectual. Ministers recently explored the possibility of banning a romanticised novel based on the life of Sonia Gandhi. One Indian review compared the Indira Gandhi character in the film adaptation of Midnight's Children, for which Rushdie wrote the screenplay, as a "Lord Voldemort-like politician with dark grey clouds hanging over her head". In India, leading film industry figures tend to avoid provoking politicians. Powerful censors often cause problems for films that are potentially offensive to the powerful or influential. Mumbai-born Rushdie's relationship with his homeland has always been troubled. His 1988 book The Satanic Verses is still banned in India. An appearance by Rushdie at the Jaipur literary festival in January had to be cancelled after protests from Muslim groups. Producers did not seek permission to shoot Midnight's Children in India, choosing Sri Lanka instead. The Iranian government attempted to close down production of the film but succeeded only in halting work for several days. It is set to be screened in 40 countries.