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| Saturday, 19 June 2004 |
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Final instalment 'Water' shot in Sri Lanka: Mehta completes Fire trilogy
Deepa Mehta, the Indian-born internationally acclaimed film director has just finished shooting her latest movie 'Water' in Colombo. It is tipped to be another controversial movie and the final chapter of the Fire Trilogy. 'Earth' was the second film in the series. Before leaving Sri Lanka, in an exclusive interview with the Daily News, Mehta said she was extremely happy about the way the film was shot and its progress despite initial protest in India against it which forced her to abandon shooting in 2001. "It took another three years for me to put everything together," Mehta noted. "I am happy that I was able to complete the film with impressive locations in Sri Lanka that ideally suit the script," said Mehta, adding that the locations and the support given by the local crew members were excellent. Mehta commenced shooting in April and finished last week. "Sri Lanka has a great potential to cater to foreign film makers. I was impressed by what Sri Lanka had to offer and I have made the right choice," she explained. Mehta had to give up shooting 'Water' in India amidst protests in Varanasi. The film is a period piece, set in the 1930s. Its about three widows in a house of widows in Varanasi.
She said women in India, when their husbands died, traditionally went or were sent to Varanasi to spend the rest of their lives in widows' homes. In the 1930s child marriage still existed. Water is about a seven-year-old widow who arrives in a house of widows and how she acts as a catalyst for two widows, one aged 50 and has reconciled herself to this particular existence, and the other, 21, who hasn't. The film looks at how they change their lives because of her. "The film was shot around Colombo - Maradana station, Bolgoda Lake, Jinthupitiya," says well-known film maker and Chairman of Film Location Services Chandran Rutnam whose company was involved in the whole shooting campaign. He said they re-created the city of Varanasi near the Bolgoda Lake. Errol Kelly built all the sets. "The film has now been sent to Canada for post production and editing will be completed by November," Mehta said. The film is produced by David Hamilton. When pressure was brought upon Mehta to halt the shooting of the film in India in 2001, she had to look around for an alternative. "We were looking for a safe environment. South Africa and Malaysia were some alternatives." The film stars Indian actors John Abraham, Liza Ray, Zeema Bizwas and an eight-year Sri Lankan girl named Sarala from Galle.
Mehta enthuses about the performance of this little girl. "She acted brilliantly. She was amazing with her natural talent. She is the heroine of the film," Mehta added. Iranganie Serasinghe also played a role in the film. "She was brilliant," noted Mehta. Responding to a question on film making, she said: "It is very difficult to be a film director. It is a very collaborative work where you need the support of many people raging from actors, producers and other crew. It is a very inter-dependent industry." It is very healthy to have criticism, she says referring to criticism levelled against her. However, Mehta stopped reading articles on movies in newspapers and magazines several years back. "One day, someone will praise you and another day they will criticise you. It is not just criticism but praise too. But I have stopped reading the entertainment section in newspapers and magazines," says Mehta who has worked as a journalist in an Indian newspaper. She was involved in this rather hectic and controversial industry from her childhood. "My father was a film distributor and I grew up with films." Mehta began her film-making career after she immigrated to Canada in 1973. She started writing scripts for children's films before moving into television work as an editor, producer and director. In 1985, she directed Travelling Light, a one-hour television documentary on Dilip Mehta, a world-renowned photographer and in 1987 produced and co-directed the television film Martha, Ruth & Edie. In 1990 Mehta made her feature film debut with Sam and Me, a poignant story set in Canada about a friendship between an Indian immigrant and an elderly Jewish man. The widely-acclaimed film was followed in 1994 by Camilla, starring Jessica Tandy and Bridget Fonda. Mehta's third feature, Fire, produced in 1996, tells the story of two lower middle class Indian women, both trapped in arranged marriages, who form a lesbian relationship. Mehta's last feature, Earth, was a moving account of the partition of India in August 1947. |
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