Deepa Mehta’s WATER Irks Fundamentalist Hindus
by Andre Soares
Elisabeth Bumiller in The New York Times: "This is the disturbing India of the Hindu widow, a woman traditionally shunned as bad luck and forced to live in destitution on the edge of society. Her husband’s death is considered her fault, and she has to shave her head, shun hot food and sweets and never remarry. In the pre-independence India of the 1930’s, the tradition applied even to child brides of 5 or 6 who had been betrothed for the future by their families but had never laid eyes on their husbands.
"Into this milieu now comes the director Deepa Mehta with Water, a lush new film that opened on Friday, about Chuyia, an 8-year-old widow in the India of 1938."
Water won three Genie (Canadian Academy) Awards, including Best Actress for Seema Biswas.
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