RSS feedThe Politics of ‘Water’
 |
| Director Deepa Mehta |
Water is a film about Indian widows in the 1930s. In the past and present, many women whose husbands have died are forced to enter “widow houses”. Labeled as worthless without a husband to measure themselves by, they struggle to survive by begging and often turn to prostitution. It happened in the ‘30s and is still happening today. The chosen location was the holy city of Varanasi, a place where widow houses still exist. The day before filming was due to begin, the crew was informed that there were a few complications with gaining location permits. The following day 2,000 protesters had stormed the ghats, destroying the main film set, burning and throwing it into the holy river. Protesters burnt effigies of Deepa Mehta, and threats to her life began.
The protest was a symbol of increased conservatism in Indian society; more immediately for Mehta and her crew, it represented a mortal danger. As a result, the production was shut down. Production started anew in 2004, this time in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
CBC Canada, where the film inaugurated the Toronto Film Festival, called it “a potent censure of patriarchy as well as an ode to female resilience.” Water follows three women at different stages of their internment: Kalyani, a prostitute whose earnings keep the ashram from falling into utter penury; Shakuntula, the middle-aged woman who governs the colony; and Chuyia, eight years old and already a widow. Chuyia is a destabilizing force, questioning not only her own confinement but the logic of sequestering widows.
The backdrop of the film is the rise of Mahatma Gandhi, who not only agitated for India’s independence from Britain but also sought to improve the lot of Hindu widows.
The film, which has been kept away from screens in India, may be distributed in cinemas there at last.