Deepa Mehta’s Oscar-nominated film has been green-lighted by Indian censors to be shown in theatres across the country in March.
NEW YORK: Indian-born film-maker Deepa Mehta’s Oscar-nominated Canadian entry Water has finally been green-lighted by Indian censors to be shown in theatres across the country in March. Her film, which traces the hard lives of Hindu widows, triggered violent protests from the Shiv Sena while being filmed on the banks of the Ganges in 2000.
“I’m thrilled that the film will finally be able to be seen by Indian audiences” said Mehta. “After the experience with Fire, where theatres were burned down in protest, I was worried about whether any distributor would be willing to show Water. That Ravi Chopra is willing to take the chance with Water gives me hope.”
Film-maker Chopra is releasing Water through his distribution company BR Films and he is pulling out all the stops for a grand 100-print release. The film will first be shown in theatres in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata in March and will then run in smaller Indian cities.
Water is the final part of an elemental trilogy by director Mehta who has never baulked at dealing with challenging issues. Her earlier installment Fire tackled lesbianism and Earth, the still sensitive subject of India’s partition.
Describing the initial protests against her movie, Mehta said “accusations of Water being anti-Hindu” were cited as the cause of the film sets being thrown in the river and protesters marching in the streets of Varanasi, denouncing the film and its portrayal of Hindu widows being sold into prostitution.
“It’s been such a tumultuous road with Water. The lows have been very low and the highs have been very high. The weakest low was when the film was violently shut down by Hindu fundamentalists in India and my mother had to see my effigy being burned. And the ultimate high is of course the nomination by the Academy in the Foreign Film section. What great company to be in.”
If Hindu hardliners had there way Water would have never seen the light of day. After the script of Water was passed by India’s censor in 2000, shooting began in Varanasi. Soon Shiv Sena activists and other Hindu hardliners burnt down the main set, seized and destroyed all prints and the original negative of the film. With no insurance cover, Mehta had to abandon her project. She collected money over the next few years and resurrected the project in Sri Lanka.
“To complete Water had become a personal mission, but it took four years before David Hamilton, the producer, and I resurrected the project.” Mehta said she did not expect Hindu fundamentalists to create problems for Water’s screening in India. “A lot has changed in India since then. There was a particular mindset when the BJP was in power…When there is a secular government ruling people are not hesitant to say what can get constituted as anti-Indian or anti-Hindu,” she told DNA. “I was born in India and studied in Delhi University. I may be ‘that thing’ called a NRI, but you can’t take India out of me” she declared.
Water was released by Fox Searchlight in the US in April 2006 and went on to become one of the highest grossing Hindi-language dramas in North America netting $5.53 mn.
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