If you’ve read Midnight’s Children, then you know it can’t be an easy book to adapt to film. Netflix, on Friday, announced a new original series based on Salman Rushdie’s classic novel. “I am absolutely delighted that Midnight’s Children will have a new life on Netflix, and greatly look forward to working with them to help create it,” Rushdie tweeted, announcing the decision.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the move to acquire the novel was made by Simran Sethi, who left Freeform, an American cable channel, last year to join Netflix as creative executive in India. Rushdie, who is 71 year old, was born in Mumbai and his novel Midnight’s Children won the Booker Prize in 1981. It is largely considered Rushdie’s best.
“Midnight’s Children is one of the great novels of the world, and its themes are still relevant to the India of today. We are incredibly excited to translate this pioneering work of fiction that parallels the birth of modern India, for a global audience,” said Erik Barmack, VP, International Originals, Netflix, in a statement,
As reported in THR, Netflix has been focused on growing internationally of late, and is hopeful that the property will help it further expand into the Indian market. The company, which entered India in 2016, sees the country’s 1.3 billion residents and its 300 million smartphone users as their next great frontier for global expansion. However, the other details of the series like episode orders and arrival date are yet to be announced.
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Of late, there has been a renewed interest in looking at literature through a visual lens, where seminal literary works are finding a new audience, and therefore, a new lease of life. A couple of years ago, for instance, Hulu adapted Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, giving the American public a reflection of the times they now live in. The Midnight’s Children adaptation may not only help with growing Netflix’s market but might reinforce its position as the kind of content creator and producer that seeks to go beyond pulp and pop culture.