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Movie review: Midnight's Children by Deepa Mehta

Midnight's Children..


'Midnight's children'  written by Salman Rushdie and directed by Deepa Mehta. The visuals and sounds are more affects rather than reading, not only for the purpose of entertainment but it reflects some elements in such way. Movies are the part of our surroundings.

 Saleem Sinai is the metanarrative of the film. On 14th August, when Saleem and Shiva both were born at a midnight, when India gets its independence from the Britishers. Separation of Saleem and shiva is connected with partition of India, it parts these two children with their destiny. Mary Pereira, who changes the destiny of both the children. The story is narrated in fictional way. It is a  kind of Chattani fiction, which is connected with hybrid identities. Here spittoon is presented very symbolically, as part of Saleem's memory.  The film is narrated in many ways like, Freedom struggle, hybrid identities, magic realism.

Hybrid identities


The film speaks for hybrid identities, which connects many characters with each other.  Saleem Sinai who was son of Christian and Hindu, india also known for hybrid culture, mixture of culture, and India as home of hybridity. 

  Adam, son of Shiva and Parvati, which also a mixture of identity. It also raises the question on belongingness.

 Magic realism
India still known for believing in superstition, in the movie there is some kind of elements of magic. Parvati doing magic as a real art of her. Abracadabra, which is signifies her believe in magic or we can say superstition, through she saves Saleem's life. The movie juxtaposes on both sides at one side India dealing with technology and also involves in superstition.

 Freedom struggle
Film includes the war of 1965 in Karachi, civil war in Bangladesh. In India 'The Emergency' from 1975 to 1977 when Prime minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared accross the country.

 In the film there is direction of normal home rather than royal and huge like Taj Mahal, camera passes very normally, one another thing is marriage, the movie displays the marriage in a very absurd way, which is rarely find in India.

 It is a political allegory, which includes the many dark sides of partition, poverty, how it damaged our country in a very significant way. The movie is appreciated by BBC and take place in their list. The symbol of 'nose' signifies that how people take pride of inheritance. So, it had many postcolonial aspects, it creates a satire, how people has to suffer during the partition, when Indira Gandhi was appointed as a prime minister, how she ruled in a bitter way, as per her governance 'nation comes first not the people'. 

 Thank you.....

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