By Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, Feb 25 (IANS) Nandita Das has opted out of old friend Deepa Mehta's "Midnight's Children" because she feels it would difficult for her to cope up with her duties as an actress and as a mother.

"I am not doing the film! With little Vihaan, who is six months old now and sooooo delightful. I didn't think I would have been able to do justice to both the roles and would have felt quite torn," said Nandita who is married to Mumbai-based businessman Subodh Maskara.

"Pity, but as Deepa says, there is 'Komagata Maru', where I am playing the female lead and as I say, there is a time for everything," added the 41-year-old who is known for powerful performances in movies like "Bawandar" and "Maati Maay".

"Midnight's Children" is screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's multi award-winning international bestselling novel of the same name.

The multiple award-winning actress is the latest in a long line of actors who have existed from Canada-based Indian filmmaker Mehta's new epic.

Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Om Puri, Kangana Ranaut have all at one point or another been part of the film.

Nandita, who has earlier worked with Mehta 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 and this led to a period of cold war between the two, which eventually dissolved and resolved itself when the two met in New York two years back.

Mehta offered Nandita pivotal role in "Midnight's Children". Little did they know Nandita would soon be married and a mother of a son.

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

"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," said the actress.

Nandita won the best actress awards at the Santa Monica Film Festival for "Bawander" and for "Amaar Bhuvan" at the Cairo Film Festival. She walked away with the best actress gong for "Maati Maay" at the Madrid International Film Festival.