/> All of Nandita Das's resolve to balance motherhood with a career has dissolved.Despite her determination to keep her two roles as mother and actor-director apart, the mother has ultimately proved to be the stronger of the twin forces guiding Nandita's life.

Nandita has opted out of old friend Deepa Mehta's cast-challenged Midnight's Children. Nandita is the latest in a long line of actors who have existed from Deepa's new epic. Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri, Kangna Ranaut have all at one point or another been part of the film.

Nandita who was signed for a pivotal role made the decision to opt out after much deliberation.

Says the actress, "I am not doing the film! With little Vihaan, who is 6 months old now and sooooo delightful, I didnt think I would have been able to do justice to both the roles and would have felt quite torn. Pity, but as Deepa says, there is Kamagathamaru, where I am playing the female lead and as I say, there is a time for everything!"

Nandita who has earlier worked with Deepa in the controversial Fire and 1947-Earth was also supposed to do the third part of Mehta's elemental trilogy Water. In fact Nandita had shaved her head off and shot with Akshay Kumar in Varanasi for Water.

Eventually the film was made with another cast, without Nandita being informed of her ouster from the project. This led to a period of cold war between Mehta and Das, which eventually dissolved and resolved itself when the two met in New York two years back.

Deepa offered Nandita pivotal role in Midnight's Children. Little did they know Nandita would soon be married and a mother of a little baby-boy.

With Nandita's inability to do a fullfledged role Mehta offered the actress a guest appearance instead.

Admits Nandita, "By the end of it I was only doing a friendly appearance as the days required for the role would be less.But then I felt it didn't make sense as it would be neither here nor there. Anyway I made the decision because of the current situation. Vihaan is too delightful to leave him for anything. Also too small still."