Sarita Chowdhary plays Indira Gandhi in Midnight’s Children

By Subhash K. Jha -

January 15, 2013 - 3:29 AM IST

Interestingly Sarita Chowdhary, the actress who shot to fame in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala and Kamasutra, plays Mrs. Indira Gandhi in Midnight's Children. She has been kept completely out of all the publicity.

Sarita Chowdhary plays Indira Gandhi in Midnight’s Children

"Deepa Mehta didn't want to draw any attention to Sarita Chowdhary who plays Mrs. Gandhi but looks nothing like her. The whole strategy was to not focus attention on the character and the actress playing the role."

That the censor board has displayed endearing liberality in passing Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children without too many cuts is a fact that even Deepa has acknowledged wholeheartedly.

However, what is not known, and the fact has now emerged from an important member of the Midnight Team is that Salman Rushdie's voiceover regarding a comment on Mrs. Indira Gandhi has been asked to be changed.

Says the source, "Considering the Congress government rules at the Centre, the censor board was lenient to the point of being lavishly generous. As in Salman Rushdie's novel, there are scathing references to Mrs. Gandhi's policies during the dreaded Emergency in the film. The censor board was divided over the content related to Mrs. Gandhi. Finally however they left most of the references to the excesses during the Emergency intact as part of chronicled historical fact."

However, Salman Rushdie voiceover has been asked to be changed.

Says the source, "At one point in the 'Emergency' section of the film Saman Rushdie's voiceover says, 'Indira Gandhi wanted to be treated as a goddess'. The line has been asked to be deleted by the censor board. The censors told Deepa that the line expresses just a random opinion and has no basis in historical fact."

When this writer asked Salman Rusdhie if he would be in India for the release of Midnight's Children, he replied, "I'm not sure if my schedule will permit it."