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TORONTO -- Like "Bandit Queen" and "Maya," "Water" bravely delves into outmoded social traditions of India, thus roiling the waters of religious fundamentalism, which might mean that Deepa Mehta's film will never get past the censors in that country. "Bandit Queen" and "Maya" certainly didn't. But the film, whose sheer beauty and compelling storytelling is equal to its social protest, really is made with one eye on the international market. " Water" is another in the new wave of Indian movies that seek to bring Indian culture and cinema to audiences beyond the Indian diaspora. The story does require a bit more understanding of Indian history and culture than, say, "Monsoon Wedding." So Fox Searchlight, which recently acquired the film, needs to target sophisticated urban audiences and the college crowd. Certainly the issues of sexual inequality explored here transcend all cultural references, so "Water" should find appreciative audiences worldwide. The third film in Mehta's "Elemental Trilogy" -- "Fire" and "Earth" precede it -- "Water" is set in 1938 Colonial India during Gandhi's rise to power. The practice of child brides was then prevalent. When the much older men these Hindu girls married for economic reasons died, the widows were considered financial burdens by their families, who sent them to a house where they were forced to live lives of austere penitence. The film initially focuses a bright, 8-year-old widow, Chuyia (Sarala), whose father drops her at an ashram for widows. The place is run by Madhumati (Manorma), a hugely fat and domineering woman in her mid-70s. The child's tongue and rebellious instincts upset the household for several days as she meets the widows who reside in this dilapidated two-story dwelling built around a courtyard. The one who first befriends the child is Shakuntala (Seema Biswas). She struggles to calm the girl down even as she herself struggles with issues of faith and self-worth. She closely questions an affable priest, who recites scripture at the ghats or stone steps down to the river, presumably the Ganges. Gradually, the focus shifts to a young widow, who could be Chuyia in another decade. This is Kalyani (Lisa Ray), who is very beautiful. To earn money for the ashram, Madhumati uses the services of the pimp Gulabi (Raghuvir Yadav) to prostitute Kalyani to the Brahmin gentry across the water. When Kalyani's puppy escapes and Chuyia gives chase, the dog is corralled by a handsome law student and Gandhi nationalist, Narayan (John Abraham). He and Kalyani swiftly fall in love, but widows cannot marry. Actually they can, according to a new law, but as the priest admits, men ignore laws that inconvenience them. Thus, Mehta neatly marshals the forces of Gandhi's rebellion against the British -- which is mentioned only in passing -- and all forces of liberalism in India against the oppressive traditions of child brides and widows' sufferings. The film itself was shut down by Hindu fanatics, who in 2000 rioted and destroyed sets in Benares. Production resumed several years later in Sri Lanka. Re-creating her story in that lush setting, Mehta and cinematographer Giles Nuttgens light and create images of startling beauty. Indeed the calm magnificence and spirituality of the landscape make a violent contrast to the oppression these widows in white saris suffer and the complacency of a society soon to be torn apart first by Gandhi and then by Partition. The actors from young to old are most accomplished, but the one who crystallizes the essence of the story is Biswas (who also starred in "Bandit Queen"). She is a woman whose faith sustains yet also imprisons her. These contradictions are never fully resolved, but we see in her face, especially her eyes, that her life has been forever changed and challenged by this child and then the unwilling prostitute. This leads to an act of courage and of hope for the future, which brings the film to an end. |
