Set primarily in India and spanning the twentieth century, Filming tells a series of stories, including that of one-time prostitute Durga, who is persuaded to give away her young son, Ashok, and that of Saleem, the son of a prostitute and two-times star of the silver screen. As these stories intertwine and overlap, they combine to create a novel that is simultaneously about the small details and the bigger picture, weaving together major historical events â including Partition, the assassination of Gandhi, the rise of photography and the Bombay film industry, and the development of barbed wire â with the everyday moments that make up the fabric of our lives.
âIts plot, like a Bollywood melodrama, teems with characters and incidentâ Guardian
âElegantly structured and taut with understated passion, Filming is a brilliant recreation of the lost world of early cinema and the continuing tragedy of religious hatred . . . Its delights as well as its message should find admiring readers everywhereâ Independent
âAbsorbing . . . Filming is distinguished by its ambition, its structural inventiveness and its highly evocative proseâ TLS
âUnderpinning this intriguing novel is a concern for the truth . . . In keeping with Khairâs pertinent and thought-provoking musings on self-deception, its skill lies in making us question our assumptions about what we do and why we do itâ New Statesman