I will talk about my girlfriend when I turn 18 - Darsheel Safary

Darsheel Safary plays Saleem Sinai in Midnight’s Children, a little boy who is endowed with the magical power to telepathically gather all the Midnight’s Children (children born on the midnight hour of India’s independence on 15th August, 1947) with his watering nose. If Darsheel was endowed with such a super-power, he would have wanted to know people’s thoughts, send people his thoughts and enable certain thoughts in certain people. The actor was 14 when he shot for the film in Srilanka. When asked as to why the movie was shot there he replied, “I don’t know the actual reason, but maybe because the country has some beautiful old bungalows and vintage cars which lent verisimilitude to our film.” He is full of praise for Director Deepa Mehta who had trained him for the film through workshops and had also allowed him to study as he was after all in Class IX at that time. Regarding Ronit Roy who plays his onscreen father in the movie, he said, “He is a very experienced actor. He talked and bonded a lot. We practiced our dialogues together and he gave me many interesting insights into the film.” Darsheel has come across the novel Midnight’s Children at Crossword Bookstore. However he has not read it as he felt that he is too young for the book and only plans to read it when he is older. Darsheel was busy studying for his impending Class X Board exams when we called him. His exams are in March and has opted for the Commerce stream in Class XI. He is yet to decide whether to pursue acting, dancing or an academic career in future. Given the opportunity he is quite open to anchoring a show on TV. He added, “My parents are supportive and will let me take the career I wish to.” On a parting note we asked him as to whether he has a girlfriend and he replied, “Yes I do. However I will only talk about my girlfriend when I turn 18.” We wish Darsheel all the best in his board exams and for the future.