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India @ 70: BBC Radio 4 airs ‘dramatisation’ of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
To mark India’s 70th Independence Day, BBC Radio 4 is airing a seven-part ‘dramatized’ version of author Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize winning novel Midnight’s Children today.
BBC Radio 4 paid a special tribute to India’s Independence on Monday night by broadcasting a seven-part “dramatisation” of author Salman Rushdie’s 1981 Booker prize winning novel Midnight’s Children. The first episode was aired just before midnight on the eve of the anniversary of India’s 70th Independence Day. The rest of the episodes, of differing lengths, would be aired on BBC Radio 4 through August 15.
Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children follows the life of Saleem Sinai, who was born at the exact moment when India gained independence from the British. Actor Nikesh Patel, known for his role of Aafrin Dalal in British drama series Indian Summers, plays Saleem in this dramatisation by writer Ayeesha Menon.
In a statement, Rushdie, author of 12 novels, said: “My generation is a radio generation. Indeed, Saleem refers to himself as a radio — All India Radio — due to his ability to talk to people telepathically, so radio seems like a very appropriate medium for this dramatisation of Midnight’s Children.”
He added, “I’m also very happy to have the originality of different length episodes in the drama - it feels radical and exciting and I look forward to hearing it go out on the radio.”
Earlier, the 600-page Midnight’s Children was adapted for the stage in 2002 and it was performed in London and New York by the Royal Shakespeare Company. A cinematic adaptation of the multi-award-winning novel, directed by Deepa Mehta, was released in 2012.
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