Salman Rushdie

[pluthra]

so, for anyone who doesn't know Salman Rushdie is probably one of the most contoversial South Asian Writers. He's written "Midnight's Children," "The Satanic Verses"- which led to people threatening to kill him, and a bunch of others (that still have to be read). Deepa Metha, director, plans on turning "Midnight's Children" into a movie.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7726228.stm

But,I don't know if Deepa Metha can make the movie as good as the book. It seems like every time they set out to turn a novel by a South Asian writer into a movie it just fails, like "The Namesake." Seems like the message and points in the book were diluted in the movie. And "Midnight's Children" is one of those books you really have to read in order to really understand, a movie can't captivate half the details of what Rushdie explains.

Any opinions? Should Indian directors just stop trying to make books into movies?

 

[Summy]

Good Question Parul, I will veer off the topic for a bit and then answer your question.

Firstly, I enjoy everything Rushdie has written and have read all his books. Sometimes, you have to read differing opinions from what you believe in but UNDERSTAND THAT THE VALIDITY OF BOTH ARE THE SAME. He may not be a religious person, I believe myself to be a follower of a lifestyle, but if you want to categorize myself as religious, do so, but both of our views are equal. This is something he tries to get across in his literature, that religion and the way the world was brought up has led us to a point of cultural, and moral extremism. I completely agree, he is the closet thing to a phiolospher that we will have in our lifetime, and back in the day, not all philosophers were accepted, but they were all respect. They debated, they talked and they have mutual respect, and thats how philosophers used to grow from each other. But the fact that Rushdie is seen as extreme, and there has been a fatwah placed against him is sad, and speaks to his point.

Now, as far as Deepa Mehta, I think her films are the most uninteresting, plain, and one dimensional movies. She is really unessaceraily glorified. I enjoy all international cinema, but watching her films, there is no evolving of the character, the story may have twists or turns but it is exactly what you think it is. I enjoyed Fire, and some of her films are not bad, but really, why mehta? ALthough I am for a punjabi female making it big in Canada, and the world, her stories are undeveloped.

The thing with Rushdie's writings is that they have an underlying sense of humor, that i am not sure can come across in film. Literature imagination is one of the best experiences in the world. When ink can make you build up things in your head, and have your own understanding of what is happeneing, why do you need a movie to explain the book for you. There is a lot of background info you need to have especially in Midnight's children, because of the references to old time mumbai, and the mahabharat/ ramanaya.

Overall, I never think it is a good idea when a successful book is made into a film, because it really takes away from your own understanding of the book. Specifically, because Rushdie's commentary is bleak, humerous, and speaks to a involuntary sense of religious and cultural passiveness, it would be interesting how they would adapt that to film, and would they keep rushdie's cyncism prevelent?

 

[pluthra]

seriously, now i really don't think she'd be able to do make it at all. Because ur right there is so much going on in his novel, and you have to have a really good understanding of the book and events, and the cultures, and everything just to get it. And not many people understand the history of India (its just vaguely known) or just little facts in general, and kashmir, ok I seriously did not know anything about the Kashmiri culture or anything until I did read the book and then read up more on it--you could literally analyze every single sentence in that book

also, summy wat book do u recommend of his to read next?

 

[sulmoney]

read satanic verses next

 

[dheerja]

I just had to jump in and profess my undying love for Salman Rushdie. Midnight's Children is by far his best book (won the Booker of Booker's), but I also really enjoyed Shalimar the Clown. It's not as dense so it's an easy read, and I couldn't put it down even during finals week. I'm actually surprised they wouldn't go with Shalimar the Clown for a movie, it's a suspenseful plot and it would make for a much better movie. I'm completely against a film adaptation of Midnight's Children because the beauty of the book is its literary genius. I also hated almost all of Deepa Mehta's films (Earth is the only one I enjoyed), and Water was painful to sit through.

I'm actually in the process of reading all his books, like his smaller ones (Fury, Shame, Haroun and the Sea of Stories), and the last one I have to read is his latest book The Enchantress of Florence. I'd recommend (in order): Midnight's Children, Shalimar the Clown, Satanic Verses, The Ground Beneath Her Feet

 

[pluthra]

thankssss dheerja!!!

 

[Summy]

Parul, I would DEFINTELY recommend Shame as his next book to read, especailly if you liked the content of Midnights Children. ESPECIALLY with the turmoil that Pakistan is in today, the words of Rushdie is almost prophetic in nature.

The way the protagionist is protrayed in the novel can be parralled with how pakistanis may feel today, with their country in political and social turmoil. I am prettysure, not 100% that he wrote it after midnight's children, so the content is on the same line. Read his essays before you read the book it provides like a basis for his books. I can send them to you if you like... Both are interesting takes of a man in the diaspora (Something we all can identify with) and post colonial south asia...

While we are on the topic of Indian English Lit (which by the way I WOULD NEVER THINK WOULD BE A DISCUSSION TOPIC ON BTF, thanks parul for that), I think every person should read "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor. He was a former embassador in the UN, and literally, one of the best, if not the best book I have ever read.

You have be educated somewhat on the mahabharat, and the indian independence movement to understand the references of the book. The book basically is in a mahabharat like setting, but interwines with the Indian independence movement, and the way he draws parrallels between the figures of the mahabharat and those of the independence movement is literally art.

Its a masterpeice, I really recommend it, if you have an interest in that type of thing.