When we don't learn those lessons then what is the point of recording history? I hope that Earth will put this into perspective. Find out what is Deepa Mehta … But whichever scene we shot, it affected me very deeply because I know that all this happened. There was a mobilisation of the women's movement and a great mobilisation of people for freedom of expression. They are very tangible elements. I grew up hearing about all the horror stories of partition, as did a lot of people who were from the Punjab, the area most affected. Every society or traditional value, whether in the east or the west, has an incredible impact on human behaviour. There’s a reason for that; the script evokes some colors that it seems to cry out for. DM: They've just kept quiet and have effectively disappeared from the scene on this issue. When you know the real history of partition and the responsibility that lands in the laps of the British, obviously you understand why it is a very uncomfortable subject for them. DM: I am in pre-production right now and we start shooting on November 1 in Varanasi, which is our holy city, our Mecca or Jerusalem if you will. Whether you look at Kosovo, Ireland, in fact, whatever country has been colonised, wherever there has been some kind of separatism, division, or so-called ethnic cleansing, 50 years later there are still all the same problems. In an interview, Deepa Mehta stated: "Water can flow or water can be stagnant. I think it is bound up with a number of attitudes that prevail in the western countries about India. NDP will not trigger election as long as pandemic continues: … iW: Tell me a little about working with Aamir Khan, he is very famous in India isn’t he? To make epic sweeps and have politicians representing the anguish that the ordinary people went through is not for me. There were demonstrations and protests, all sorts of things started happening. In “Fire,” it was orange, white and green and in “Earth,” it was mostly terra cotta, red and yellow. The Indian censorship board eventually re-released the film uncut. The Deepa Mehta Interview, 1997. Could you explain the complexities of personalising the political? All rights reserved. “Earth’s” canvas is much larger. He doesn't want to be in a joint business, but this is the way things are dictated. DM: Fire is about particular individuals, but it is also a universal question, not unlike Earth. Partition was organised by the British Labour government with the support and collaboration of the Muslim League and the Indian Congress Party. How Will Awards Season Take Shape Without the Golden Globes? There is no nostalgia for British raj in this film. Very disciplined, very professional. RP: Could you explain the situation that confronted your family during partition? RP: Can you provide some background to Earth —why you made the film and why you think there have been so few films made by western filmmakers about the partition of India? Mehta recently spoke to indieWIRE about her elemental Indian trilogy, the problems of independence, and the colors of “Earth.”. So for them to have passed Fire without one cut was very heartening. The younger man in Fire really wants to get married to a Chinese girl. You rejected this. The Sikhs might want a homeland, tomorrow the people of South India will want one, and it will carry on and on. Today it is basically the dollar that drives the demands for separation. Interview: Deepa Mehta talks Anatomy of Violence. This was a revelation. They were different in that sense. Deepa Mehta, an Indian filmmaker, chats about the countries emotional reaction to her film "Fire" about the romance of two women. iW: In terms of filmmaking as craft how did you approach ‘Earth’ versus how you approached ‘Fire’? Naturally I was attracted to this subject. International Committee of the Fourth International. But, I approached them in exactly the same way for myself and what the script demands. In fact, if you ask anybody from the Punjab today, and we are talking about third generation, what does 1947 mean to you, they will never say the independence of India. Mehta: No, no, I wrote the first draft and sent it to her. Deepa Mehta: Fifty per cent of the actors are Tamil. It is on the banks of the Ganges, about 2,000 years old, and it is a city of temples. Mehta: Oh yeah, I’d met her before and I admire her very much. DM: Oh yes, it certainly was. By disclosing a personal drama to the audience, Deepa Mehta’s 1947 (Earth) tells a story of a tremendous political change and the following challenge that India had to face in order to survive. Suddenly everything we were doing in the film was in context. When it opened in India, and it was opened at 40 cities I think, it did really well. iW: What are the differences between shooting in Canada and the USA versus shooting in India? Canadian-Indian filmmaker Deepa Mehta, best known for her Elements trilogy – Fire (1996), Earth (1999) and Water (2005) – was the creative executive producer and co-director of the Netflix series. Indian-born director Deepa Mehta spoke with Richard Phillips last month following her attendance at the Melbourne International Film Festival. As you listen you will hear three different people, I am one of them. Whether it was the love scene, the train scene, or little Lenny saying it is my birthday and everybody is too busy reading the newspapers or the little boy saying, "my mother was raped and do you want to play marbles?" She was in the production phase of her latest film, Heaven on Earth about the spousal abuse rampant amongst Punjabi families living in Canada. To me, that is a kind of stagnant water. The way in which Mehta manages to intertwine the Indian political and economical situation of the time with the lives of ordinary people is truly incredible. He’s an actor before he’s a star. I like the fact that he doesn't flee from an emotion, he embraces it fully. Much to the censor board's credit they said no, they would not cut it and it played throughout India, including in Bombay and Delhi. I know that there will be some dialogue or some debate. Earth will be released world-wide in mid-September with Australian screenings beginning in Melbourne on September 16 and Sydney showings sometime in October. Get the list of all Deepa Mehta movies. The logistics are different, but it’s exactly the same — it’s just about human interaction on a very basic level. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. iW: You use a lot of bright colors, lots of reds, how do you work with your DP and your production designer? They just don't cut things here and there because of violence or sex; they are sort of moral guardians. Deepa Mehta’s “ Water” and Homegrown Indian Feminism by Amy Levin By Amy Levin on July 5, 2012 • ( 16). All these scenes had a profound effect on me. It might appease one's ego for the moment, but to follow such a course would be a disaster. In the first scene of the Deepa Mehta’s 2005 Indian film Water, a father tells his eight year old daughter, Chuyia, “Child. Who are the directors that have most influenced you? At least 11 million people—Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others—were driven out of their homes. There are certain lessons that have to be learnt from history. I gave him the script and he just responded to it. She said, "lesbianism is just another aspect of the film... Fire is not a film about lesbians," but rather about "the choices we make in life." DM: The partition of India was like a Holocaust for us and I grew up hearing many stories about this terrible event. Bollywood North: an interview with Deepa Mehta. One of the main actors, Nimmi Harasgama, is half … Link/Page Citation Although Deepa Mehta's father was a successful film distributor in India, and she grew up watching popular Bombay musicals, her university studies led to a degree in philosophy, not film. INTERVIEW: Deepa Mehta's Elements, From "Earth" and Beyond, In 1947, India was split into Hindu and Muslim states, a division that would cost the lives of a million people. So in the period between the censorship, as well as the fact that it was doing well at the box office, and the favourable reviews from the critics, I thought that everything was fine and I could move on to the next project. The NPR Interview - 'Midnight's Children' - Salman Rushdie, Deepa Mehta On Adapting The Novel Midnight's Children, from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Deepa Mehta, is a … Fire became a much larger issue—a springboard for a dialogue about the fact that women in India don't have choices and how dare anybody tell them what they should watch and what they should not. DM: First of all I have to be engaged personally on an emotional level with all my characters. Mehta: They are very different scripts. Interviews. 4 Things You Need to Know about Deepa Mehta’s Funny Boy Ishani Nath. I wanted to tell this really large story from the standpoint of an intimate group of friends from different ethnic groups and trace out the process of partition through them. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Mehta: The enemy really divided and ruled then left. I met someone who had a small documentary house in Delhi. It was a pleasure working for him. Water: Interview with Director Deepa Mehta April 24, 2006 by EmanuelLevy From the provocative filmmaker Deepa Mehta comes Water, the moving and vibrant story of Indias widow houses, where women of all ages are taken to live (even today) apart … It is uncomfortable and difficult for some filmmakers to produce works that destroy these perceptions. And what is happening in the Balkans is a horrible example of it. 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The government really didn't know what to do about the protests so they banned the film in Bombay and Delhi, the two major cities, and then sent it back to the censors to be reviewed with the possibility that they may make some cuts. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. I am sure I could go on at length. DM: There were so many. Our censor boards are not like yours, or the North American censors. Today it is a similar kind colonialism except the multinational corporations are doing it. 52 years later, for us, we are still struggling with the same boundary issues. indieWIRE: What are the similar themes between “Earth” and your last film “Fire”? All the same problems would remain and the divisions would never end. I think Emir Kusturica is brilliant, and one of my favourite films of all time is Time of the Gypsies. Every family member has some horror story to tell. DM: There are a quite a number but there is one group of great masters. “Earth” premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and was picked up by Zeitgeist Films for a U.S. release. Deepa Mehta began her filmmaking career after she immigrated to Canada in 1973. Within two days of me saying this, the s--t hit the fan. Buñuel talks about the importance of characters being rooted to a place. Interview: Gia Coppola on the Unrequited Love of the Internet in “Mainstream” Bao Tran on Finding His Footing with “The Paper Tigers” Shantrelle P. Lewis on the Roots of “In Our Mothers’ Gardens” Reviews. I started working and fell in love with [film] all over again and never went back to do my dissertation. It's like when a bully meets a strong opposition, they just cower. As is Ireland or Kosovo. Legacy Interview *Deepa Mehta, In Profile Nettie Wild, Director Yves Ma, Producer Nettie Wild is best known for feature documentaries (including Fix: The Story of an Addicted City and A Place Called Chiapas) that have taken her behind the headlines and front lines of revolutions around the world. In 1985, she directed Travelling Light, a one-hour television documentary on Dilip Mehta, a world-renowned photographer, and in 1987 produced and co-directed the television film Martha, Ruth & Edie. While her debut received much acclaim here in the U.S., fundamentalist factions in India embarked on a violent protest against the film, deriding its lesbian themes. iW: All that many Americans know of India’s independence is through films like “Gandhi.” They know about the British rule, but it was always Indians against the British and your film shows Indians pitted against Indians. She doesn't want to marry him. I think this is true. Copyright © 2021 Penske Business Media, LLC. We thought this is good, things are becoming very liberal. I couldn't divorce myself from the pain that Lenny, or Bapsi [author of Cracking India], or the ordinary people went through and then you would get up in the morning and read the newspapers about how nuclear-armed India and Pakistan were getting ready to fight again. She gave me her notes and I sent her the draft as I finished. The Deepa Mehta Interview 2000. Mehta's latest feature, Earth, is a moving account of the British partition of India in August 1947 into a Muslim-controlled Pakistan and a Hindu-dominated India (see link to film review below). So everybody in Fire —the women, the men—confront these problems. Funny Boy, Academy Award nominee Deepa Mehta‘s movie adaptation of Toronto-based author Shyam Selvadurai’s 1994 novel by the same name, has faced criticism from the Ilankai Tamil (the largest Tamil minority group in Sri Lanka) diaspora after the trailer of the film was released in October 2020. 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