Deepa Mehta and Salman Rushdie arrive for the gala premiere of Midnight's Children in Toronto. (Picture by Mahesh Abeyewardene)
Academy award nominated Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta paid a glowing tribute to the Sri Lankan crew of Midnight’s Children which premiered here at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s award-winning 1980 novel was filmed in 651 locations in Sri Lanka including several leading colleges and hospitals.
“I loved working in Sri Lanka because we filmed Water (nominated for an Oscar in 2007) in the island. The skyline hasn’t changed much in Sri Lanka; not too many skyscrapers and flyovers, however construction is happening very fast now, we got there just at the right time,” she told The Sri Lanka Reporter following the premiere in Toronto.
“The old Galle Face and colonial houses were just fabulous, I loved working in Sri Lanka.”
She paid tribute to Sri Lankan art director Errol Kelly and Gopi Dharmaratnam who handled executive supervision in the production company “The Film Team” headed by Ravindra Randeniya.
“The crew in Sri Lanka was amazing, such talented people,” Mehta said adding the main crew members were unable to attend Toronto premiere due to work commitments in Colombo.
Sri Lanka was a second home of sorts for Mehta who says her favourite dish was hoppers (appam) and shrimp curry.
