Cliche Merchant

Deepa Mehta’s films have attracted more criticism than praise. Critics have called her "sensationalist" and "deliberately controversial". Her first film, Sam and Me, about Indians in Canada went unnoticed in this country. Fire, about a lesbian relationship in a middle-class Indian family, has been described as "wearyingly politically correct", parading the orthodoxies of ‘gender’, ‘oppression’ and ‘secularism’ in a script devoid of nuance or complexity. The film became controversial and Sangh parivar activists tore up its posters in cinema halls in Delhi. Her next film, Earth, 1947, was similarly ambitious and aimed to tell the story of Partition through an adaptation of Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, The Ice-Candy Man. But while Sidhwa’s book dealt with the transformation of a happy-go-lucky ice cream vendor into a murderous fanatic, Mehta attempted to create a historical epic and was banned from shooting her film in Lahore.

Canada-based Mehta has been criticised by film-makers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan for seeking and fanning publicity for Water when she might have easily maintained a lower profile. "Satyajit Ray made great films from simple human dilemmas," says a film critic. "He didn’t need to find fashionably sensational subjects to sell his films or display his social commitment."

But whatever the quality of her films, there can be no doubt that Water has a right to be made and Mehta has the right to write any kind of script she wants without interference from those uncomfortable with anything beyond a statement of old platitudes. But Mehta’s not a prophet of our times. In fact, she has had no formal training in film and has worked on assignments for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before she began working on feature films. She’s a feisty lady who makes films that are famous for being famous. And perhaps chooses themes that look more like ambitious slogans rather than serious explorations. But it’s difficult to be trendy all the time, especially if one wants to shoot in the cow belt.