COURTESY: MSN INDIA - BOLLYWOOD
'Water' loses out OSCAR to 'The life of others'
Monday, February 26, 2007
Deepa Mehta's 'Water' was washed away at the Oscars, with Germany's "The Lives of Others," winning the top honors. Even though it was Canada's official entry at the Academy Awards, fans in India were pinning hopes on 'Water', since, 'Rang De Basanti' failed to make it to the final five.
Deepa Mehta's Oscar nominated 'Water' is part of her acclaimed trilogy, after Fire and Earth. Set in a 1938 India, the movie attempts to bring to life the plight of widows. To the time when child marriage was still a reality in some sections of society, with young girls regularly married off to men who were much older. When theis husbands died, these child widows faced a lifetime of destitution at charitable institutions or ashrams. 'Water' speaks about them.
Chuyia (played by child artiste Sarala) is an 8-year old widow sent off to an ashram to pay for sins from her previous life. Here, she meets women from three age groups -- 20-year old Kalyani (Lisa Ray), 35-year old Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) and 80-year old Bhagvati (Waheeda Rehman).
Kalyani is forced to prostitution by the eunuch Gulabi (Raghuvir Yadav) and he faces her fate calmly. The intelligent and educated Shakuntala is the mysterious one. She is unhappy at the situation she finds herself in. The most colourful character is Bhagvati, who lords it over all the women at the ashram, smoking ganja and gossiping with Gulabi.
Water speaks about the lives of these women. And how changes trickle in. Life changes for Kalyani, when she falls in love with a young, upper-class political activist, Narayan (John Abraham). A believer in women's emancipation, he decides to change society by marrying her. Does he succeed? Will he be able to make a difference?
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