Vishal Bhardwaj to Direct Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children for Netflix

Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize winning novel will soon be adapted into a web series for Netflix.

Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize winning novel Midnight’s Children will soon be adapted into a web series for Netflix. Vishal Bhardwaj, best known for directing films like Maqbool, Omkara and Haider, will be helming the project.

The web-streaming giant made the announcement from its official Twitter handle on Wednesday. “We’re excited to announce that @VishalBhardwaj will be the showrunner for Midnight’s Children, the series, which will stream exclusively on Netflix,” it tweeted.

Midnight’s Children revolves around Saleem Sinai who is born at the stroke of midnight on 15 August, 1947. Widely considered as Rushdie’s most seminal work, it won him the 1981 Booker Prize, the Best of the Booker twice (in 1993 and 2008) and the James Tait Memorial Prize.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Bhardwaj said, “The opportunity to translate one of the greatest works of literature in a medium that is accessible to millions of people around the world is incredible, and I’m delighted to partner with Netflix in bringing Midnight’s Children to life on screen.”

“I am confident that taking this quintessentially Indian epic that transcends generations and genres, combined with the production values and creative freedom that Netflix offers, will contribute to an unforgettable series that is Indian at heart and global in reach,” he added.

With Netflix trying to expand its reach in the Indian subcontinent, it is increasingly focusing on creating Indian originals more than ever. The streaming giant has several exciting projects lined up for its Indian audiences, including Shah Rukh Khan’s Bard of Blood, Leena Yadav’s Rajma Chawal and Deepa Mehta’s Leila.