Worksheet: Film Screening—Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children

 This blogg task given by  Dilip Barad sir. Worksheet: Film Screening Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children.

Film Screening Worksheet: Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (2012) Based on Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘Midnight’s Children (1981) .

➰Objects

* To critically engage with the film adaption of the novel.

* To explore postcolonial themes  such as hybrid identity, narration of the nation, and the politics of English.

* To foster refelective and analytic thinking through guided activites.

1. Pre-Viewing Activites 

A. Trigger Question (Class Discussion or Journal Entry)

1. Who narrates history- the victors or the marginalized ? How does this relate to personal identity ?

History is most often narrated by the victors those with the power to record, publish, and institutionalize their version of events. Their narratives shape textbooks, monuments, and collective memory, often glorifying conquest and suppressing dissent. But the marginalized colonized peoples, minorities, and the dispossessed carry histories too, though theirs are often oral, fragmented, or hidden in literature and resistance movements.

In postcolonial texts like Midnight’s Children, this imbalance is challenged. Saleem Sinai’s voice, blending myth and memory, offers a counter-history that foregrounds personal trauma and cultural complexity. His narration reminds us that reclaiming the story is a form of reclaiming identity. So while victors may dominate the historical record, the marginalized continue to rewrite it one story at a time.

* How does this relate to personal identity ?

When history is told only by the powerful, personal identity becomes shaped by omission. If dominant narratives erase or distort the experiences of the marginalized, individuals from those communities may struggle to see themselves reflected in the story of their nation. In Midnight’s Children, Saleem Sinai’s fragmented, myth-infused narration resists this erasure. By telling his version of history, he asserts his identity not as a passive subject of empire, but as an active storyteller. This shows how reclaiming narrative is also reclaiming selfhood: personal identity is not just inherited, but constructed through the stories we choose to tell and believe.

2. What makes a nation ? Is it geography, goverment , cultural, or money?

A nation is more than its territorial boundaries or political systems; it is a construct shaped by shared memories, cultural practices, and collective imagination a concept Benedict Anderson famously termed an “imagined community.” While geography and governance provide the framework, it is the lived experiences and historical consciousness of its people that breathe life into national identity. In postcolonial contexts like India, this identity is layered and often contradictory, formed through overlapping narratives of trauma, resistance, and renewal. Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children captures this complexity by weaving together major historical events such as Partition and the Emergency with deeply personal stories. The film suggests that the idea of India is not static, but a fluid and evolving tapestry of voices, memories, and meanings.

3. Can language be colonized or decolonized? Think about English in India. ?

language can be colonized when used to control thought and culture like English during British rule in India. But it can also be decolonized when reclaimed and reshaped by local voices. In India, English has been “chutnified,” mixed with native languages and expressions, turning it into a tool for self-expression rather than domination.

2. While-Watching Activities

A. Guided Observation

1. Opening Scene: Note how nation and identity are conflated in Saleem’s narration.

In the opening scene, Saleem’s birth is narrated alongside India’s independence, symbolizing how personal identity and national history are deeply intertwined. His story becomes a metaphor for the nation itself fragmented, evolving, and shaped by memory.

2. Saleem & Shiva’s Birth Switch: How does the identity of each child become hybridized biologically, socially, politically?

Saleem and Shiva’s birth switch creates hybrid identities. Saleem, born poor but raised rich, gains privilege without lineage. Shiva, born wealthy but raised in poverty, becomes hardened and ambitious. Their lives reflect how identity in postcolonial India is shaped by social, political, and historical forces not just biology.

3. Saleem’s Narration : Consider the narrator’s role. Is it trustworthy? How does metafiction shape our perception?

 Saleem’s narration in Midnight’s Children is deliberately unreliable, blending memory, fantasy, and historical fact in a way that challenges conventional storytelling. His voice is deeply personal and self-aware, often acknowledging its own contradictions and limitations. This metafictional approach where the narrator reflects on the act of narration itself invites viewers to question the nature of truth and history. Rather than presenting a single, authoritative account, Saleem’s story becomes a layered, subjective reconstruction of events. This shapes our perception by emphasizing that history is not fixed or objective, but constructed through individual experience and imagination. In doing so, the film critiques dominant narratives and opens space for alternative voices.

4. Emergency Period Depiction : What does the film suggest about democracy and freedom in post-independence India?

In Midnight’s Children, the depiction of the Emergency period (1975–77) serves as a stark reminder that independence does not guarantee liberty. The film exposes how democratic promises can unravel under authoritarian governance, revealing scenes of forced sterilizations, silenced opposition, and widespread censorship. These moments echo colonial mechanisms of control, suggesting that postcolonial regimes may replicate the very structures they once resisted. Rather than treating the Emergency as an isolated event, the narrative positions it within a broader, ongoing tension between power and freedom a struggle that continues to shape the nation’s identity.

5. Use of English/Hindi/Urdu : Identify moments where English is blended or subverted. How does this reflect postcolonial linguistic identity?

In Midnight’s Children, English is blended with Hindi and Urdu, reflecting India’s multilingual identity. This mix subverts colonial language norms and shows how English has been adapted “chutnified” into a tool for Indian self-expression, not domination.

    

* Written Refelection

A written reflection for the Film Screening Worksheet: Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children (2012) is a personal and analytical response that captures your thoughts, interpretations, and learning after engaging with the film through a postcolonial lens.