Rushdie Midnights Children jacket

Midnight’s Children to be made into a film by Deepa Mehta

‘Unfilmable’ Best of the Booker novel to be finally adapted

19 November 2008

Midnight's Children, the 1981 Booker-winning novel by Salman Rushdie, is to be made into a film by the Indian-born Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta. Work is expected to begin in 2009 with the film being released in 2010. Rushdie and Mehta made the announcement at a recent event in New York (6 November 2008) during the annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival.

Midnight's Children won ‘the Booker of Bookers' award in 1993 (the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in 25 years) and went on to win the Best of the Booker award in 2008 (the best novel to have won the prize in its 40 year history).

In a press statement at the film festival, Rushdie said,

‘I'm delighted that my friend Deepa Mehta has agreed to make a film of Midnight's Children. Her passion for the book, combined with her immense talent as a filmmaker, means that my novel has been placed in the best possible hands. I also look forward to working with her on the screenplay.'

To watch the speeches from the Best of the Booker award, including Salman Rushdie's acceptance speech, please visit our Video section

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