Review of films: Midnight's Children and The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Midnight's Children:

Midnight's Children is  1981 Novel by British Indian author Salman Rushdie. It deals with India's transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. It is considered an example of postcolonial, postmodern and megical realist literature. (Wikipedia)

Postcolonial critique of Salman Rushdie's most famous novel, Midnight's Children. 

Midnight's Children are the children born at the stoke of the midnight of 15th August 1947 that marked India's independence. 

The story is narrated by its chief protagonist Saleem Sinai. The conceptual framework of postcolonial theory is adopted to critique this novel.

Concept is analyzed to extract postcolonial elements of.....

• Magical Realism
• Hybridity
• Postcolonial Feminism
• Mimicry

Magical Realism:

The magical realism narrative adds beauty and vigor to the historical events represented in this novel which otherwise could have been boring to read. The Midnight Children were not ordinary kids they had supernatural power.

Saleem incredible sense of smell, Parvati the witch invisibility basket, Tai the eternal boatman is ageless, Mian Abdullah humming and so on.....

Hybridity:

Saleem is a perfect representation of the hybrid man, born with multiple allegiances and identities. He is character of mixed William Methwold and a poor Indian woman. Yet raised as a son by the middle class Sinais.

 

The Reluctant Fundamentalist:

The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mira Nair's movie is a salutary reminder of the horror that began the 21st century, based on the 2007 novel by Mohsin Hamid.

Fundamentalist refers to religious identity one unfortunately most often associated with Islamik terrorism these day.

Maybe it is disingenuous of the writer to use such a loaded title. But he wants to question our belief. I think it is a clever tactic that compels you to confront your prejudice or your stereotypes.

It's an engrossing story, told and it begins like many immigrant sagas with the American dream, a great job, a beautiful girlfriend and unlimited prospects. But Changez's dream begins to turn into a nightmare after 9/11.

He does an about face and returns to Pakistan. There he teaches at a university and incites students to demonstrate for Pakistan's disengagement from the US. It is his mission in a decaying part of the world to stop the empire from manipulating the fate of powerless countries. He is labeled anti-American.