Sarita Chowdhary to be seen as Indira Gandhi in Midnight's Children

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. “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,” said a source. That the censorboard 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. Added the source, “Considering the Congress government rules at the Centre the censorboard 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 censorboard 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. Said 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 censorboard. 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.”