Deepa Mehta
Was born
in Amritsar, India in 1949.She received a degree in philosophy from the University of
New Delhi. Shortly after getting married to Canadian filmmaker and producer Paul
Saltzman, she immigrated to Canada in 1973. However their marriage didn't last
long.
Work
Although
Mehta has no formal training in filmmaking, she began her cinematic career writing scripts for children’s films.
In 1990, Mehta produced and directed her first feature film SAM & ME, the
poignant story of an unlikely friendship between two men, both outcasts of
sorts, who form a deep and permanent bond despite the fact that neither is
welcome in the other’s world. SAM & ME won the very first Honorable Mention by
the Critics in the prestigious Camera d’Or category at the 1991 Cannes Film
Festival.
In 1992, she guest-directed a
one-hour episode of George Lucas's Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. The
following year, Mehta directed Camilla, staring the late Jessica Tandy
and Bridget Fonda. It was released worldwide in 1995. Also, Mehta directed the
final episode of Lucas's Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1994.
Mehta is
probably best known for her "elemental" trilogy: Fire, Earth and
Water.
Mehta's
main point in making films is to challenge blind tradition in India: "It was
important to set it [the films] in India because the story is happening there.
It is a microcosm of India, the challenging of traditions. I seriously wanted
to break the stereotypes of India, the 'exotic' India of the Raj and the princes
and the mysticism. Exotic India doesn't really exist" (Kirkland 11/24/97).
Mehta admits her films are influenced by her life and her experiences.
 The
first, Fire (1996) with starring Shabana Asmi and Nandita Sat, was as
controversial in India for its lesbian content as it was applauded all over the
world for being ahead of its time in questioning the destiny of the marginalized
Indian woman. It has won 14 international awards to date.
The second, Earth (1998), based on Bapsi Sidhwa's, Cracking India,
explored questions of religion, identity, friendship and family in the face of
partition.
This film also won many awards
including the Prix Premiere de Public at the Festival du film asiatique de
Deauville, France in March 1999 and the Critic's Awards at the Schermi d'Amore
International Film Festival.
And, recently
Water (2006). The action of the movie is set in India, in the
1930s, when the practice of child marriage was still prevalent and there was no
societal or familial support for widows.
Unfortunately, after two days of shoots in Varanasi, because of violent
protest by Hindu fundamentalists against filming of Water. erupted, Mehta was
forced to shut down her production and go back home to Canada. It was not until
four years later, in Sri Lanka, under the disguised title of "River Moon", with
entirely new cast, that Water was revived.
Water explores the desperation and destitution these women faced at a
widow ashram, both through the eyes of an 8-year old Chuyia, played by a Sri
Lankan, Sarala, and through ehy eyes of a beautiful woman who is prostituted ro
raise funds for the ashram, Kalyani, played by model Lisa Ray. With
unforgettable supporting performances by John Abraham, who play a Gandhi
idealist and Kalyani's love interest, and Seema Biswas, who nail the moving and
complicated role of Shakuntala, the most mysterious of all the widows whose
hatred of being a widow is interestingly juxtaposed with her fear of not being
one.
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