/> The last time they came together Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das created a stir of echoes as a lesbian couple in Deepa Mehta's Fire.

12 years later Deepa is all set to bring the fiery feisty duo together again...this time for a screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's mythic Booker -award winning 1981 novel Midnight's Children[also chosen for the Booker Of Bookers award twice].

Just how this cinematic history was mooted is a tale by itself that's best left for Deepa to be recounted.

"It was the simplest thing in the world. I'm aware the largest studios of Hollywood were trying for years to convince Salman to part with the filming rights for Midnight's Children and he had refused them all.

Salman and I have been friends for three years. On 4 November Salman and I were having lunch in New York when I casually said, 'Wouldn't it be lovely to make a film out of Midnight's Children?'

And Salman replied. 'Why don't you do it?' As simple as that. Salman has seen my Water and loved it. So he feels I could do justice to his book."

Deepa plunges into this mother of all epic novels in 2010, right after she's done with her other period epic Kamagatamaru with Akshay Kumar.Midnight's Children will be produced by Deepa's life partner David Hamilton. Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das and Seema Biswas have already been finalized in the cast. "These are my three absolute favourites. Enchanting enduring actors whom I've had the privilege of working with earlier. Shabana and Nandita were magical in Fire. And Seema was absolutely resplendent in Water."

In fact Shabana and Nandita were to play the main leads in Deepa's Water. After the project was stalled in Varanasi Shabana sensing political trouble had voluntarily opted out of Water.

Ironically it's another politically-sensitive artiste Salman Rushdie who's all set to bring Shabana and Deepa together again.

Now the big question is, who plays the young Muslim protagonist Salim in Midnight's Children?