Whats wrong with us ? Why are we not rejoicing that Deepa Mehta's "Water" was at least nominated in the Oscar's foreign films category. The day the oscars were announced most Indian newspapers had the following headlines :
"Deepa Mehta's Water misses the mark" , "Mehta's water not good enough" , and the even more bizarre, "Water misses Oscars, John misses Bips" !!!! .
I sense the deep rooted complex that we have against our own fellow countrymen a little different from the rest of us.
Before you begin to think that I am a fierce feminist who wants to defend Mehta, let me tell you thats not true. I had personally found Mehta's films good but never great. And I'm no feminist.
The first one of the Trilogy , "Fire" was about two women, married to brothers of the same household, both women being neglected by their husbands. Shabana and Nandita did their roles convincingly, yet I found the film not depicting reality. In what households do two such women turn to each other for physical fulfilment ? They were not born lesbians and so what happened in the end was somewhat unbelievable. A lot of women I know in India are subjected so some mistreatment from in-laws or husbands. And personally I have close friends in situations similar to Sita and Radha's. They turn to other routes, if at all. I've never seen them turning to women. I do know real lesbians in India, but they are not born out of such situations.
The second of the Trilogy was "1947, the Earth". Now this film I had watched back in 1999, even before I had watched Fire. And I thought in the film Mehta did a pretty good job. The film successfully recreated the horror, shock, angst, resentment, mistrust and plight accompanying Partitions. The train scene was pretty gruesome, just like it really was and even years later I shudder at the thought of it. This film was certainly not the very first film on Partition , there had been scores like this one. Yet it invited controversy again. It was anti-Muslim, anti-Hindu, anti-India , anti-Sikh, all at the same time. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US ? Can't we ever accept a tiny story about human beings ?
It is easy to see why Mehta always finds her films in trouble, especially with the fundamentalists. She chooses to make films on controversial topics. Now which film in India made on partition did not get the brickbats from some section of the society, or let me say the political society ? Even the simple love story called "Bombay" wasn't spared , just because it was between a Muslim and a Hindu. I was in Kanpur(yr. 1995) when I went to watch "Bombay" at a movie theatre with friends. Two days later a part of that theatre had been partly demolished.
Anyway, back to Mehta. Now coming to the third of the trilogy, "Water" has been through the most out of the three. From the sets being burnt to Mehta being forced to film in Sri Lanka, the film couldn't have had worse circumstances. Kudos to Mehta for displaying an amazing level of dedication and determination.
The film was well received outside India. I had watched it on DVD early last year. And then I heard it had been showing around most film festivals (Independent cinema, Indo-American fests etc) and had earned accolades galore.
I loved the film . It was so much more mature and understated than the first two of the Trilogy. There is a silent spiritual tone to the film which makes it unforgettable. Perhaps it comes out of the character of Chuhiya, the little girl. She holds the lamp of innocence and purity through the complex and ugly drama of oppression and domination. I almost wondered that the film came from Mehta. Her loudly kohled eyes and long dark locks have never impressed me with any kind of subtlety or softness!! Yet, even after fighting for 5 years to complete her film, Deepa Mehta did not give in to her own emotions. She finally gave us the purest unadulterated story. Kudos.
Why , why then my people would not rejoice at the nomination of the film like they did when Lagaan was nominated? Why did the newspapers sound like they were trying run down Mehta ?
Is it that Indians haven't yet come of age when it comes to honest introspection and open hearted exploration ? Are we still fooling the world with our so called virtues of non violence and tolerance ?
"Deepa Mehta's Water misses the mark" , "Mehta's water not good enough" , and the even more bizarre, "Water misses Oscars, John misses Bips" !!!! .
I sense the deep rooted complex that we have against our own fellow countrymen a little different from the rest of us.
Before you begin to think that I am a fierce feminist who wants to defend Mehta, let me tell you thats not true. I had personally found Mehta's films good but never great. And I'm no feminist.
The first one of the Trilogy , "Fire" was about two women, married to brothers of the same household, both women being neglected by their husbands. Shabana and Nandita did their roles convincingly, yet I found the film not depicting reality. In what households do two such women turn to each other for physical fulfilment ? They were not born lesbians and so what happened in the end was somewhat unbelievable. A lot of women I know in India are subjected so some mistreatment from in-laws or husbands. And personally I have close friends in situations similar to Sita and Radha's. They turn to other routes, if at all. I've never seen them turning to women. I do know real lesbians in India, but they are not born out of such situations.
The second of the Trilogy was "1947, the Earth". Now this film I had watched back in 1999, even before I had watched Fire. And I thought in the film Mehta did a pretty good job. The film successfully recreated the horror, shock, angst, resentment, mistrust and plight accompanying Partitions. The train scene was pretty gruesome, just like it really was and even years later I shudder at the thought of it. This film was certainly not the very first film on Partition , there had been scores like this one. Yet it invited controversy again. It was anti-Muslim, anti-Hindu, anti-India , anti-Sikh, all at the same time. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US ? Can't we ever accept a tiny story about human beings ?
It is easy to see why Mehta always finds her films in trouble, especially with the fundamentalists. She chooses to make films on controversial topics. Now which film in India made on partition did not get the brickbats from some section of the society, or let me say the political society ? Even the simple love story called "Bombay" wasn't spared , just because it was between a Muslim and a Hindu. I was in Kanpur(yr. 1995) when I went to watch "Bombay" at a movie theatre with friends. Two days later a part of that theatre had been partly demolished.
Anyway, back to Mehta. Now coming to the third of the trilogy, "Water" has been through the most out of the three. From the sets being burnt to Mehta being forced to film in Sri Lanka, the film couldn't have had worse circumstances. Kudos to Mehta for displaying an amazing level of dedication and determination.
The film was well received outside India. I had watched it on DVD early last year. And then I heard it had been showing around most film festivals (Independent cinema, Indo-American fests etc) and had earned accolades galore.
I loved the film . It was so much more mature and understated than the first two of the Trilogy. There is a silent spiritual tone to the film which makes it unforgettable. Perhaps it comes out of the character of Chuhiya, the little girl. She holds the lamp of innocence and purity through the complex and ugly drama of oppression and domination. I almost wondered that the film came from Mehta. Her loudly kohled eyes and long dark locks have never impressed me with any kind of subtlety or softness!! Yet, even after fighting for 5 years to complete her film, Deepa Mehta did not give in to her own emotions. She finally gave us the purest unadulterated story. Kudos.
Why , why then my people would not rejoice at the nomination of the film like they did when Lagaan was nominated? Why did the newspapers sound like they were trying run down Mehta ?
Is it that Indians haven't yet come of age when it comes to honest introspection and open hearted exploration ? Are we still fooling the world with our so called virtues of non violence and tolerance ?
Comments
Well..you are right in part..however the truth is Indians can not take such topics 'objectively', unlike most foreigners. Reason being, they've been through all these in the past..so for us Indians, it's like 'dukhti rag pe haath rakhna'..it's as simple as that...no one wants to carry the past together with oneself....they've much more miseries in life to take care of...
Of course we are. There certainly are many people who think "outside the box" and appreciate works like Water. The percentage, however, in comparison to the rest of India is extremely low. In my opinion, the majority is what the headlines are targeting.
Plus, I doubt that even the college students of the time understood the intensity and seriousness of this film. Even today, the best films get the lowest ratings in Indian newspapers (HT and TOI).