18 Years Of Water: Deepa Mehta Shares The Journey Of Her Iconic Film, Says ‘I Felt Quite Humbled…’
March 9, 2025 – Deepa Mehta’s Water, one of the most powerful films ever made, continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, even 18 years after its release. The film, which delves into the haunting reality of abandoned widows in India, remains a landmark in Mehta’s career and in global cinema.
Reflecting on the film’s profound impact, Mehta shared, “Wherever and whenever I’ve shown the film, the response has been pretty much the same. People have wept and stood frozen for at least fifteen minutes.” The director, who fought for five years to bring Water to life, believes that the delays only strengthened the project. “The script didn’t change. I have. If I had made Water five years earlier in Varanasi instead of Sri Lanka, it would’ve been a different film. Varanasi had become a character in itself, too overwhelming for me as a filmmaker. Once I moved away from Varanasi, I felt creatively liberated. It gave me much more freedom to do what I wanted. The canvas became larger.”
For Mehta, making the film was a deeply personal and transformative experience. She admitted that, unlike her previous films Fire and Earth, which resonated more deeply with specific groups, Water struck a chord with both men and women. The inspiration for the film came during her visit to Varanasi while working on Young Indiana Jones, where she encountered an abandoned widow. “I followed her to an ashram, and the experience shocked me. We all know about widows, but the whole ashram syndrome struck me as utterly poignant.”
Mehta’s unflinching portrayal of societal injustices, particularly sexual repression, was intentional. “I don’t shy away from the truth. Societal discrimination horrifies me. Life is filled with despair, but I finally found hope in my story,” she said.
The film’s impact extended beyond Mehta’s own expectations. Water was chosen as Amnesty International’s Film of the Year and the Activist Film of the Year in Ottawa. Mehta explained, “The response has gone beyond me. After the first five minutes when Chuhiya asks her father, ‘For how long am I a widow?’ I forget I even made the film.”
Water’s universal message of pain, suffering, and hope transcended cultures. Mehta recalled how viewers across the world found personal relevance in the film, with Canadian audiences relating it to the persecution of aboriginals, South Africans identifying with the legacy of apartheid, and viewers in Karachi connecting it to the plight of divorcees.
The character of Kalyani, portrayed by Lisa Ray, was Mehta’s homage to Bimal Roy’s work, specifically his film Bandini. The film’s authenticity was further heightened by casting non-professional actors in key roles, with several of the widows being played by real women with no prior acting experience. One such actress, Mridula, was a doctor of Hindi literature from Pune who had always dreamt of acting.
Despite the film’s global acclaim, Mehta expressed regret that the very women whose suffering she depicted may never see the film. “Instead of doing something about abandoned widows, they aren’t even getting to see a film on the theme,” she said.
Ultimately, Mehta believes that Water is a film about desire and hope. She reflected, “I couldn’t make Water until I stopped being angry. It took me five years to let go of that anger. But now, I’m just grateful that the film exists and continues to touch lives.”
