Seven years ago, Varanasi (the holy city of India), witnessed a mob trying to rule the city with angry protests and burning the effigies of a filmmaker. This was none other than a woman who had already made first two films of her trilogy -- 'Fire' and 'Earth'. She had a plan to make the final of this trilogy 'Water' in the city situated on the banks of Ganga. But, she was made to quit not only Varanasi, but the country. Her fault was that she wanted to depict social exploitation of widows in Indian society. Though there are still plenty of such kinds of women on the streets of Varanasi and Mathura, she played safe and set her story in the pre-Independence era. The director was Deepa Mehta, for whom the whole country lobbied to get the Oscar award for the Best film under foreign language film category recently, though her film was not an entry from India but Canada!
No one asks those who made Deepa's life hell when she was in India to shoot 'Water'. Images of bald Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das still haunt my memories; their roles are now played by Seema Biswas and Lisa Ray respectively in 'Water'. Deepa Mehta got help from B R Films to get her film released in her native country and after seven years of turmoil and struggle. Finally, 'Water' sees the light of the day in the country where it belongs to.
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'Water' is not an entertainer; it's not among those run of the mill masala films that you see every Friday releasing from the biggest world producer of films. 'Water' shakes you and makes you take a dip in your solace. Deepa narrates plights of widows with the help of a girl child named Chuhiya (Sarla). She is married at an age when she should have played with dolls. As the luck has it, her husband dies soon after. For no reason or rhyme, her head is shaved, she is draped in a white saree and left at a Vidhwa Ashram ( house for widows) . A widow is either to burn herself on her husband's pyre or marry her husband's younger brother or pass the rest of her life in a Widhwa Ashram, according to the local cult in some parts of India. The problems of widows have been brought out in many films in Hindi cinema; from Shakti Samant's 'Kati Patang' to Raj Kapoor's 'Prem Rog' and Ravi Chopra's 'Baabul'. Each movie has tried to cash on the public sentiments by showing their pitiable conditions, but no one has shaken the viewer's conscience. Chuhiya does this and thus Deepa Mehta, too.
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Chuhiya is inquisitive about her surroundings. She raises numerous questions; she doesn't like the head of the widow ashram named Madhumati (Manorama), but she gets friendly with another widow called Shakuntala (Seema Biswas). It is here that Chuhiya meets the mesmerizing beauty in Kalyani (Lisa Ray). Chuhiya and Kalyani get along very well for many reasons. Both are pure at heart, both raise questions but no one is there to answer and both of them like Narayan (John Abraham), who is the son of a zamindar but a Gandhian by choice. Narayan's first meeting with Kalyani is an accident but soon it develops into a platonic relationship.
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In between this love story there seeps in real faces of the widow ashram. The head woman runs this ashram as a prostitution center for the wealthy of the area with the help of a eunuch Gulabi (Raghuvir Yadav). Narayan wishes to marry Kalyani and despite opposition in the Ashram, she agrees for it. She travels on boat to Narayan's home but as soon as they reach close the palace, Kalyani declines to proceed. She asks Narayan either to return to Ashram or to inquire from his father, the Zamindar, and regular customer for the brothel run by Madhumati.
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Narayan is shattered and Kalyani is dead. Enters Chuhiya who is the new person to earn money for the Ashram. Deepa Mehta jolts you with the climax of the film. She introduces Gandhi at the last and shows something much unexpected. Those who have seen Deepa's earlier works can vouch for 'Water' as her tribute to her motherland. She is at the peak of her creativity in this film. She defies all the obstacles and presents a thought-provoking film. Deepa has a good script in hand, a very subtle cast and some very brilliant performances. If Lisa Ray surprises you with her sheer conviction, then John comes out as a man who practices what he preaches. Seema Biswas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Raghuvir Yadav are at their best and Manorama's comeback is a soothing welcome, indeed.
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'Water' can boast of some of the very brilliant technical aspects as well. Gill Nuttgens creates even in Sri Lanka an ambience of pre- independence India . The angles and the shot compositions are just perfect. Background score by Mychael Donaa and music by A R Rehman are other good features. 'Water' is a must watch for all those who care for good cinema. 'Nishabd' has given the fashion a push; 'Water' is another visual treat to watch. Among the five films released this Friday, only '1971' ranks close to 'Water'.
