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Oscar nomination for Water
 It's exciting news for India and Canada: Deepa
Mehta's Water has earned a best foreign language film nomination for
this year's Academy Awards.
It will compete against Denmark's After the Wedding, Algeria's
Days of Glory, Germany's The Lives of Others and Mexico's
Pan's Labyrinth.
Water, opened the Toronto International Film Festival in
2005, and was released in America much after its successful run in Canada.
With a $3.3 million American gross last year and about $2 million earned in
Canada, it is the highest grossing Hindi film in North America.
Mehta was surprised about the nomination. However, her Hollywood
admirers which include Star Wars creator George Lucas and producer
Ashok Amritraj were not at all surprised.
Mehta was in her Toronto home with her family and associates when
the nominations were announced.
'It's been very fulfilling to have that kind of recognition,' Mehta
told the Canadian media, 'and it's important for people who are marginalised
in the world.'
In the past, Canada has chosen only French-language films as
contenders for the foreign-language country. This year's choice of
Water marks the first time a film in a language other than French has
been chosen. Water was shot in Hindi.
Sixty-one films from around the world were entered in the hotly
contested category. A short list of nine films was released last week. The
main surprise in this category is that Pedro Almodovar's highly acclaimed
Volver did not make the final cut. Penelope Cruz is nominated,
however, for the film in the category of actress in a leading role.
Starring Seema Biswas, Sarala, John Abraham and Lisa Ray,
Water is about the plight of widows in India during the 1930s. The
film tells the story of eight-year-old Chuyia (Sarala) being sent to a home
where Hindu widows must live in penitence. Chuyia's feisty and rebellious
presence affects the lives of the other residents, including a beautiful
young widow, played by Ray, who falls for a kind young man (Abraham) who
shares Gandhi's dreams of an independent India.
Mehta began filming Water in India, but was forced to stop after an
outcry from Hindu nationalists who smashed sets and threatened the crew. It
took her five years to return to the film, which was shot in Sri Lanka.
The film won three Genie Awards including best film, and Mehta was
chosen best director by the Vancouver film critics circle. She also received
the Freedom of Expression Award from the U.S. National Board of Review.
Water became the fourth Hindi-language film to be nominated for the
Oscar, starting with Mother India in the mid 1950s, followed by
Salaam Bombay and Lagaan.
The Academy Awards are Feb. 25. Keep your eyes on the red carpet -
Mehta, Abraham and Ray hope to be there.
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Reviewed by
Amreen Omar
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