Synopsis

The making of Deepa Mehta’s award winning Water was dogged for years, by censorship and the physical destruction of the set by frenzied mobs of orthodox Hindus. It is 1938, and Gandhi has arrived in British-controlled India. A vivacious seven year old girl, Chuyia, is the still-virgin wife of her elderly husband who dies before their marriage is consummated. Indeed she has no memory of being married. Without explanation her parents whisk the independent Chuyia to an ashram for widows who according to religious doctrine must make amends for the sins of a previous life that supposedly caused the husband’s death. The impoverished widow has the choice of being burned with her husband, marrying their deceased husband’s brother, or serving literally a life sentence without parole in the widow’s ashram. This unique women’s community survives by begging, while the younger, attractive ones like the beautiful Kalyani are hired-out as prostitutes, often with upper class wealthy Brahmins whose wives must look the other way. A warm and tender friendship quickly develops between the twentyish Kalyani and the rebellious Chuyia. Their fate as Indian women seems sealed and reflects, on the one hand the still existent harsh extremist religious orthodoxy, and on the other, the hope for a brighter future led by the spirit and teachings of Gandhi’s very short-lived influence.

Directed by Deepa Mehta
Canada/India, 2005
114 min., rated PG-13
In Hindi, with English subtitles