India-born author Salman Rushdie is always associated with Bollywood, be it his Page 3 appearances or his model wife. This writer now wants his Booker prize winning novel Midnight's Children to be made in celluloid. And guess what, the India originated Canada-based filmmaker Deepa Mehta is all set to fulfill his wish. The writer earlier approached many a directors of Bollywood to adapt his novel for a film. But he never succeeded.

The writer-director duo announced their forthcoming venture on the sidelines of the annual 'Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival. And they seemed to be very confident about their decision. The twosome already started working together on the screen play and expects that the film will hit the theatres in 2010 as it will come to the floor in the next year. According to the sources, Deepa Mahta already signed Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das in this film while rest of the cast is yet to be decided.

Azmi will play the character of the grand mother. It tells us the story of Saleem who was born on the midnight on August 15, 1947 just when India experienced her first free air after independence. The story ends up with the end of emergency in 1977. Salman Rushdie is candid about Midnight's Children and says, “I am delighted that my friend Deepa Mehta has agreed to make the film of 'Midnight's Children'. Her passion for the book, combined with her immense talent as a filmmaker, means that my novel has been placed in the best possible hands. I also look forward to working with her on the screen play”.

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