THE FILM TEAM AT ‘MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN’ LONDON PREMIERE

The European premiere of Deepa Mehta’s “Midnight’s Children” was held at the Odeon West End during the 56th London Film Festival. The film’s Producer David Hamilton, extended an invitation to The Film Team Sri Lanka to participate with the festivities of the event. However, it was Film Team Chairman Ravindra Randeniya and Gopi Darmaratnam who could represent the company for this Gala Premiere as Production Designer Errol Kelly and Line Producer Ainsley De Silva had started preparation for the filming of a Russian feature in Sri Lanka

The proceedings began with the arrival of Director Deepa Mehta along with the lead pair, Satya Bhabha and Shriya Saran walking the red carpet. Prior to the commencement of the movie, the Festival Director introduced the cast and crew to the audience. Midnight’s Children is storytelling on a grand stage. It spans across sixty years, describes over twenty characters and was filmed in more than 65 different locations in Sri Lanka over a period of 75 days. It was an overwhelming film that captures the aroma, colours and tears of the Booker Prize winning novel in 148 minutes. The film was well received amidst a standing ovation by a full house.

A gala party for the cast, crew and special invitees followed the screening of the movie. It was a moment that the cast and crew reminisced the chal- lenges and the efforts put in during the period of filming in Sri Lanka and the joy of finally viewing the results of hard work on the giant screen. Main actor, Satya Bhabha commented, “If this film could be made in Sri Lanka, then any movie could be done there”. The party gave the opportunity for The Film Team crew to meet up with some prominent British Producers and other leading film personalities and discuss future projects for filming in Sri Lanka. Among them was Gurinder Chadha, Director of “Bend it Like Beckham”, “Bride and Prejudice” and Producer of “Mistress of Spice”.

Deepa Mehta and David Hamilton were delighted to meet The Film Team and thanked them for the professional way that the project was handled.

“It is not possible to imagine how we could have handled a project of such magnitude and complexity without The Film Team – Truly not possible” were the words of appreciation of David Hamilton . They recalled the moments how they handled challenging and demanding situations on locations and even instants that brought much laughter to the sets. Deepa commented on the occasion when an elephant went missing on the victory parade set!

The celebrations went on till the early hours of the morning and were a much rewarding experience for The Film Team, according to Mr. Randeniya and Mr. Darmaratnam.