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12 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Trilogy
comes to
soid end
By Imran Syed
Daily Arts Writer
From the moment its production
began back in 2000, director Deepa
Mehta's "Water" has faced constant
controversy. Claiming Mehta's goal
was to make the world deplore India
and Hinduism, Hindu fundamental-
ists set fire to the film's set, forc-
ing production
to halt. But truly
believing in the Water
film's message, At the
Mehta persisted Michigan Theater
- moving pro- Fox Searchlight
duction to nearby
Sri Lanka, hiring
an entirely new cast and crew and
filming in secret under a false work-
ing title to avoid more violence.
And now, six years later, we
finally have the result: a stark, poi-
gnant and often overwhelmingly
perceptive portrayal of the human
spirit under fire. "Water" is tragic,
to be sure, but not without high-
lighting the power and resilience of
the delicate spirit that can overcome
anything, provided we are strong
enough to let it.
Set in 1938, in the backdrop of the
Indian revolution, "Water" conveys
the true plight of one of the world's
oldest nations in an era of change.
Chuyia (played by young Sri Lankan
villager Sarla) is a child of no more
Mehta explains 'Water'
" 'X-Men' over my movie? Swine."
than seven or eight when the man she
had been engaged to since her birth
dies. Thus, she is, by Hindu cus-
tom, a widow. And despite the fact
that she had barely begun her life,
the sacred texts command that it be
lived out quietly and remorsefully in
a secluded house for widows called
an ashram.
Understandably, young Chuyia
does not embrace her fate. She
struggles, cries, screams and even
bites to get away, but eventually
she realizes that even if she did
escape, she'd have nowhere to go.
She's looked after in the ashram by
the determined, strict yet compas-
sionate Shakuntala (Bollywood vet-
eran Seema Biswas) and the young,
beautiful Kalyani (Lisa Ray, "Bol-
lywood/Hollywood") who, mysteri-
ously, has not been forced to shave
her head like all the other widows.
It's when Kalyani meets a young,
idealistic student of Mahatma Gan-
dhi, Narayan (John Abraham), that
she and the other widows realize
that the winds of political change
may sweep through culture and tra-
dition, too.
But how much has changed and
how much should change? Nearly
70 years later, a vibrant yet turbu-
lent India continues to struggle with
these simple questions and - as
continued protests over this film
indicate - remains unready, even
now, to evaluate its questionable
customs.
Mehta's film has breathtaking
beauty, featuring evocative yet calm
shots of a magnificently radiant set-
ting. But technical aspects of pro-
duction, as great as they are, can
do nothing to overshadow the story.
Expertly crafted with perfectly abet-
ting dialogue (the translation does
the script no justice), the film is not
an avalanche of emotion as might
be expected or feared; rather, it is
soft and deliberate, making it all the
more vivid and real.
In our ever-evolving world, a
film like "Water" would seem like
an unnecessary, painful reminder
of the past. But - even overlook-
ing the fact that, though laws have
changed, the situation remains only
slightly altered in rural India even
today - the importance of question-
ing ourselves and our customs must
never be forgotten.
Just because things have always
been doesn't mean they always must
be. This is a lesson for more than
just religious fundamentalists; it
is something too many remain too
ignorant to face. ,
By Sarah Schwartz
Daily Arts Writer
What goes into making a movie? There
needs to be producers, money, sets, loca-
tion and more. Actors must be found who
embody the roles, and the script needs to
be perfected and coherent.
Now add on top of all this thousands of
rioters, death threats and burning effigies,
and you'll start tounderstand the backdrop
for "Water," director Deepa Mehta's new
film. It's the story of three women living
in an ashram, a Hindu house for widows
in the early 1900s.
Mehta wrote the story as a part of her
trilogy of films, which include 1996's
"Earth" and 1998's "Fire." "Water" was
intended as the first of the trilogy, after
Mehta first visited an ashram in India.
She was disheartenedby her visit and sad-
dened about the effect this custom has on
the lives of the women in the country.
"Hinduism actually started off as a phi-
losophy as opposed to a religion," Mehta
said. "And it's a way of life. So to see an
aspect of the religion, which has nothing
to do with the religion because it is an
aspect that has been misinterpreted was
so discouraging, because these women
actually do believe that they are atoning
for their husbands. And that was shocking
and very heartbreaking."
Thankfully, life has gotten better for
the widows of the country.
"There is a lot of good work being
done with women, with widows right
now by women activists," she said. "But
the moral code of behavior is so deeply
engrained so that's what is going to take
a long time and a lot of work. But it's
starting, so that's the good news."
Mehta set out to create a story of
women living in the ashram on the brink
of Gandhi's revolution. Mehta calls it "a
weaving story,and by the end,you realize
the conflict of conscience and the faith is
what the movie is all about."
It's exactly this conflict that made
some organizations believe the
movie was anti-Hindu, hence the
protests and riots. It was an unex-
pected event for Mehta. Before film-
ing, she had to turn over the script to
the Indian government for approval.
"The government is very quick to
tell you if certain things in the script
need to be deleted or they won't give
you permission, which they do many
times," she explained. "So when
they did give us permission, and
when they did say there was abso-
lutely nothing that was offensive in
any way to anything, I didn't expect
the riots or anything."
Mehta explained how six weeks of
pre-production on a complex period 4
set were ruined when 12,000 people
arrived in protest. They thoroughly
destroyed the sets and burned effi-
gies of Mehta, along with a string of
death threats.
Mehta understood where the protester's
views camefrom,andconsideredtheriots
a reflection of "the rise of religious fun-
damentalism all over the world ... Hindu
extremists see themselves as protectors of
the faith and anybody who they think is
questioning the faith has to be banished."
This all occurred in 2000. Mehta set
aside "Water" so her anger would not
affect the movie. But looking back, she is
affected by the entire experience.
"There are many times when I see
this film (and) I forget that I directed
it," she said. "There is something about
the film that actually takes me on a
journey ... I'm sure on some level, you 4
don't go through that kind of trial by
fire without nothing affecting you. It's
the old clich6 - what doesn't kill you
makes you stronger."
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