India censors clear Rushdie's controversial “Midnight's Children”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Deepa Mehta's film Midnight's Children, based on Salman Rushdie's 1980 Booker Prize-winning novel, has been cleared by India's censorship board without any cuts.

Considering both Rushdie and Mehta have battled controversies here, the 62-year-old Canada-based director's tweet posted last week said it all: "India here we come - intact! Great news... Midnight's Children went through Indian Censor board without one pic cut. Salman Rushdie and I thrilled.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Midnight's Children had been viewed as a potentially controversial project within India, since the novel is considered to be critical of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The film is set for release early next year by its India distributor, PVR Films, which is owned by India's largest theatrical chain PVR Cinemas.

Following its world premiere at Toronto, Midnight's Children recently opened the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala in South India. Set against the partition of India and Pakistan following the end of British rule on August 15 1947, the film revolves around two new-born babies who are switched by a nurse in a Mumbai hospital.

While the Mumbai-born British author has been visiting India over the years, Rushdie's 1988 book Satanic Verses remains banned here. This January his planned appearance at the Jaipur Literary Festival was canceled following reported death threats.