TORONTO - Oscar-nominated director Deepa Mehta says a massive effort to bring Salman Rushdie's opus "Midnight's Children" to the big screen has pushed her in ways no other film has.
"Usually, a film takes about 35 days to shoot," Mehta notes during a break from the editing room.
"This took 70 days. So it pushed me physically and emotionally. And there's a real challenge to try and keep one's focus because it was a long shoot, because the novel and the film are epic in their proportion."
Mehta says the project is all-consuming for her these days, describing her intense post-production work as "like being in a cocoon."
She adds that she expects to edit into December before tackling final production details, and hopes to complete the film in March.
Mehta offered up the details as she accepted a lifetime achievement award Thursday from the Canadian Centre for Diversity, which provides programs that teach youth to see beyond stereotypes.
"I've been here for many years and worked out of Canada so it's marvellous to be ... recognized as a Canadian," said the Indian-born Mehta, who described her latest accolade as "particularly heartwarming."
"And not only as a Canadian but as a Canadian who matters. It's very emotional."
The award follows a career filled with industry and critical praise for films including 1991's "Sam & Me," which earned special mention at the Cannes Film Festival; 2002's romantic comedy "Bollywood/Hollywood," which nabbed a Genie for best screenplay; and 2005's "Water," which was nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar.
Mehta's latest venture, "Midnight's Children," is a sprawling tale that traces the birth of India's independence from British colonial rule.
The director says she's grateful to Rushdie for trusting her with his masterpiece.
The British author turned to Mehta for advice as he adapted the script for the big screen, but refrained from offering his opinion about the film's look or style when it came time for Mehta to turn on the cameras, she says.
"He's an extremely sensible man and he knows that he had to leave me," says Mehta. "And he did leave me and wanted to leave me alone as a director."
Mehta says the film employs a fair bit of magic realism to capture the dream-like quality of Rushdie's sweeping tale.
"What will surprise people is the magic realism, to go into that wonderful, dream-like zone that's Salman Rushdie has written about and to go forwards and backwards in time," she says.
"But essentially tell a story that is the story of hope. That is what's vital to me. Because you can have wonderful camera work and great music but if you don't have a story that is emotional and moving there's no point."
"Little Mosque on the Prairie" star Zaib Shaikh, who plays poet Nadir Khan in the film, says it was a "magical" project to work on.
He says he squeezed in an intense shooting schedule in Sri Lanka right before shooting the final season of "Little Mosque," and heaps praise on his director for drawing out the best in him.
"Her thing is about each moment, each scene being believable," says Shaikh, who is on the board of the Canadian Centre for Diversity.
"And she works on it — she doesn't demand it, she encourages, she inspires it and she works with you. Sometimes directors work at you and kind of forge a performance and some people help you grow it and that's Deepa Mehta, she helps an actor grow a performance."
Mehta says she's driven by a sense of adventure, a desire to learn and a passion for her work. But she doesn't specifically seek out difficult projects to tackle.
"I'd love to think of myself as sort of a female Batwoman or something but really I'm not," she says, chuckling.
"It doesn't take a steely resolve, it just takes maybe a naivete to actually go where — (like) a member of the USS Enterprise — to go where no man has ever gone. It's a bit of foolhardiness, a bit of desire to explore."
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