Secret film of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children completes shooting

A secret movie adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children has completed shooting in Sri Lanka, where director Deepa Mehta sought special permission from President Mahinda Rajapaksa and cajoled cast and crew to sign confidentiality agreements to prevent attacks or protests from religious groups.

If you have been living under a rock for the last several decades, Rushdie is that guy with a price on his head from an Iranian fatwa–issued because somebody who read the highlighted bits of another of his novels, The Satanic Verses, concluded that it was blasphemous.  (It had already won Iran's highest literary prize when the ruling came down, I believe).

According to the BBC, Mehta said she chose Sri Lanka over India or Pakistan, where the story is set, to avoid protests from religious groups.  She should know: Her film Fire inspired violent protests from far-right Hindu groups in India for its portrayal of lesbianism.  

Personally, I was more offended by her attempt to Bollywood's wooden and talentless John Abraham to dabble in the heretofore unexplored field of acting in a more recent flick, Water.  And now the Beeb says she's changing the title of Midnight's Children to Winds of Change — I assume I don't have to explain how and why is that is incredibly stupid.

Maybe she should keep the release of the film a secret as well?