The Smithsonian Institution is hosting a screening of Deepa Mehta’s Water on March 4 at the Hirshhorn Museum’s Ring theater. The screening will begin at 3 pm with a conversation with Ms. Mehta and will be followed by a Q and A session with her. The conversation, screening, and Q and A are all free and open to the public, and is on a first come first serve basis. From my experience with free screenings at the Smithsonians, your interests are best served by getting there really, really early.
Water is also the closing night feature at Cinequest San Jose, March 12. Unfortunately, it’s $50 for access to Mehta afterwards.
Wow…that’s good news. I’ve been dying to watch that movie. Thanks for the heads up!! 🙂
How early do you recommend?
I saw Water a few months ago and found it to be less than scintillating.
Actually, to be quite honest, I came away quite bitter at being subjected to 120 minutes of tritely executed tripe, especially when it’s been promoted under the guise of “independent” and “intrepid” filmmaking, and even more so when the topic is as significant as widows in Benares. Now if only the Shiv Sena were out to keep poorly written, didactic, forgettable films out of public consumption (though I guess that would mean taking a torch to all of Bollywood). And how unfortunate that the trinity of prominent Indian female filmmakers have only gotten more Hollywood with each passing year…
The Smithsonian, esp. the Freer Gallery, shows far better stuff all the time, especially on the weekends (as does the National Gallery, one of the best venues for viewing independent / foreign / documentary film on the East Coast, esp. because it’s FREE) So, no great loss if you miss this one, at least in my opinion.
I’m a little unclear how a movie which is set 68 yrs ago in colonial india can claim to have a topic “as significant as widows in Benares”. Also, I’m not so sure that “water’ can be labeled bollywood – mehta is the director but all the key stakeholders behind her are whites.
Sanjay,
“I’m a little unclear how a movie which is set 68 yrs ago in colonial india can claim to have a topic “as significant as widows in Benares”.
Since when is history – recent or otherwise- not significant?
” I’m not so sure that “water’ can be labeled bollywood – mehta is the director but all the key stakeholders behind her are whites.”
Apologies for, um, muddying the waters. I didn’t mean to imply that Water is Bollywood, rather that, like Mehta, Bollywood churns out filims that are poorly written, didactic, etc.
If you want to see a truly independent film come early to San Jose at Cinequest Film Festival and see “The Gold Bracelet”. It closes the Maverick Film Competition just before “Water”, followed by a Q & A with the director and actors. It’s not $50, it’s $9, at least until people find out out about the film. The Gold Bracelet is significant right now because it deals with how East Indians have been treated since September 11th. The acting is real good and the story is based on true events.
Water also plays on March 19th as part of the San Francisco International Asian Film Festival.
Kyle, I’m sure you mean well, but — there’s no such thing as an ‘East Indian’ (unless you’re talking about people living in Eastern India, i.e., Bengal)…
Some people use East Indian to make it clear that they’re not talking about people from the West Indies. I think that phrasing is more common in Canada than here …
My apologies. I guess it’s not as easy as I thought it would be to be politically correct. Anyway, the film is an American story. It’s great that Water can screen after it at San Jose. There are plenty of upcoming festivals that will be screening The Gold Bracelet both n and out of competition. Check out their website: http://www.thegoldbracelet.com – don’t mean to advertise on their behalf, but I saw the film at a private screening and people were really taken by the film and it’s original approach. The quality was impressive for an indie and again the actors were great. What’s cool about it is that you don’t feel like you’re watching an experimental film. Anyway, enjoy.
Here in the US people use East Indian to differentiate from American Indian. Grates on me big-time.
Hey all, I was at the gold bracelet screening. It was really good work. And yes, Kyle, the actors were pretty rounded. Archana Puran Singh (bollywood actress) and the guy who plays the love interest (he’s hot) were amazing. The whole cast was a unique mix. When do they announce the other festivals and where do I find it?
mallumolu,
Presenting historical facts do not automatically connote their significance in the past, let alone their significance today. Just saying that historical facts are significant is not enough; please indicate what is the significance. Today, we have a nation split right down the middle on the significance of bush’s actions in the middle east despite all having access to the same information & facts.
I do agree with you that mehta, bollywood, hollywood, tollywood etc. all make films which are poorly written, didactic, etc.
That’s so awesome that Indians are getting their shot in Hollywood. And Sadhu, do you know if that guy’s indian or not. I saw an article about him in India Tribune and he doesn’t even look indian to me. If he is, thats awesome
I suppose you mean Mehta, Mira Nair and Gurinder Chadha?
Overall I would say these directors’ works have gone more mainstream in general, in that they’ve made crowd-pleasing films that appeal to a broad cross section of people… however, unlike “Hollywood” they still tackle interesting stories and issues. Case in point is Mira Nair and her upcoming film The Namesake — I certainly don’t expect this to get the Hollywood treatment, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Indian actors like Tabu and Irfan Khan perform with 2nd gen Indian-American actors like Kal Penn.
I would add Aparna Sen to the trinity… she is not to be underestimated, and her style is anything BUT Bollywood or Hollywood.
To Preeti, Not sure about the guy’s ethnicity, but some people were saying he’s half. I dunno. The film’s in the press all over – Chicago, NYC, LA. I read another article about the Kavi Raz, the director. It’s mostly Indian papers, but it got mention on a few radio stations in Calif. Yeah, I think directors like Kavi are going to be more in demand cause they’re in touch with American and Indian culture.
Definitely. Paroma, Mr and Mrs Iyer and the latest 15 Park avenue are proof that she makes movies for the classes. I like Madhur Bhandarkar’s movies too…hard hitting subject served with some saleable masala.
Preeti,
The man in the picture is John Abraham, the desi (almost certainly Malayalee) model-turned-Bollywood star. And I’m fairly certain he’s a fullblood brown 😉
Roopa – JA’s Mallu-Parsi and yes fullblood brown!
Btw, I’d encourage y’all to attend the screening/QA. I attended one here and got a lot out of it. DM turned out to be very down to earth and wickedly funny. You also get a sense of the intellectualy virtuosity that goes into the making of her films – equally adept at discussing Caravaggio or Hindu philosophy in the span of a few minutes.
Roopa, I think the question was with regard to Sonny Mandal, the actor in The Gold Bracelet. As for who does or doesn’t look desi and by whose standards, let’s leave that to the 4 year olds.
not sure if Sepia posted about this, but Deepa Mehta’s daughter (forgot get name) just wrote a book (about to published soon) that’s getting rave reviews. Mehta married a Jewish Ukranian guy, divorced him when the daughter was 11. The daughter chose to live with the father. They did a mother-daughter reconciliation/bonding thing when the daughter became an assistant cameraoperator on the shoot for WATER. The review (of the book) in Publisher’s Weekly was so good, I’m actually looking forward to reading it.
I was talking about Sonny Mandal and I was just curious.
The book is called “Shooting Water” by Devyani Saltzman. Its a pleasant and easy read. Its a tale of mother-daughter woes, about Deepa Mehta and her daughter Devyani’s rocky relationship and how working on the film brought the two of them together. Certainly not an earth-shattering piece of work, but I liked it. Its good background reading for the film as well. Well, sort of.
I saw Water a couple nights ago at the Bangkok International Film Festival, I enjoyed it actually. Its got its flaws which we’ve all read endlessly about, but I was entertained.
From Publishers Weekly:
….a Hindi Indian?
Anyways, it does sound interesting.
This edit conforms to the Publishers Weekly style guide. If you’re going to use the wrong style, then at least use it consistently. 🙂
Is water playing anywhere in la soon, anyone? Hello…Anyone…
The one thing I don’t understand, why is everyone so caught up in her daughter’s life. It’s about the film. And there’s a lotta hype, but most people seem to be saying not so good things about it. I mean the papers say good stuff I guess, but can’t there be more original ideas that don’t just focus on the director and what she’s doing right now. Everyone’s saying all this stuff about how she’s this and that, but I don’t see what relevance it has to living here in America. I mean, my parents came here and I don’t live in some imaginary country in my mind. I live here in the U.S. I want to see what it’s like to be here and live here right now. All the movies that come out about Indians are about overcoming the pressure to become a doctor. there’s more to life than being a doctor and there’s more to life than being Indian and struggling with the insecurities of what the media portrays us as. I’ve never had the problem. And yes, all of you who don’t have anything nice to say about that will probably have something really ‘smart’ to say. But really, get over it and look at life for what it’s really about in America. Focus on the the things happening now and how they affect us. Not on what happens everywhere else and in a different time (before our time). If we’re here, then why do we have to act as though living here is such a burden. I don’t want to see anything that keeps me thingking about the director. I want to see something that gonna make me understand and learn something about what life is like for me so I can become better. And I don’t want to have to read in to it and analyze it. Leave that to the critics who don’t really know anything anyway. Peace….
thnaks for mention gold bracelet. i wanted to see it, but forgot the name. 😉
Just so you all know, I couldn’t find any info on the movie (Water) playing at the Hirschorn this weekend (March 4)in DC on their website and called up the museum itself. They said that the movie is not playing there at all in the coming future. Doesn’t make sense but that’s what they said unfortunately. If anyone has any other info, please advise. Thanks!
I didn’t think Earth or Fire were that great either!
I just spoke with the woman organizing the show and it is still on. The show starts at 3 and doors are scheduled to open at 2.
I just read something about Jewish Indians. It was pretty interesting. There’s someting like 2,000+ Indian Jews in India. I mean, I don’t know if that’s relevant to the times or not, but if Deepa Mehta’s daughter is half Indian and half Jew, well that’s great. Maybe there is something there. There’s a whole history about the Jews who came to India and how they were protected by Indian Raja’s. During a time when Sikhs were fighting for India’s survival, it all makes sense. By the way, the film “The Gold Bracelet” is pretty damn good. I sw it at the Academy of Televsion Arts and Sciences while on vacation to LA. It was a private screening. Not an empty seat in the house. I found this link about one of it’s actors. The whole cast was tight. And the music was amazing. Here’s the link: http://nripulse.com/Archives/MasalaFeb1.htm
It really irritates me when people complain about Bollywood being didactic, poorly written and plain stupid. Yes, granted there are a lot of crap and try too hard films but the they do well in the interiors and pinds where people pay 7 rupees every friday for 3 hours of escapism. However, Indian cinema has a lot of film makers who are of niether the commercial nor parallel industries wh have made thought-provoking, entertainng and fantastic cinema. Mallumollu…perhaps u should try watching some real films like Yahaan, Socha Na Tha, Hazaaron Khawaishen Aisi, Yuva, Amu, Chameli, all of Benegals films, and even some of the slightly more ‘ghatiya’ types like Mujhse Shaadi Karoge or the latest Dhawan bonanza..Shaadi No.1 or the fabulous Hera Pheri which have hilariously written scripts that work the farce genre right down to its bone. Of course, you would have to understand Hindi and often be within the, for lack of a better word, zeitgist of Indian society, to catch the jokes. But then why should film be culturally universal. Sorry for my ramblings, but mallumollu please don’t be so patronising …and whilst you are it, you might even want to watch a film called Kaya Tharan. and as for women directors, I think only aparna sen, mira nair and sabiha samar can actually qualify for consideration.
Water – I simply cannot fathom the reasoning of anyone who could be as critical as those above when casting their opinions about Water. I suggest you have another look at the film and instead of just watching, make a concerted attempt to consider what the film maker is trying to convey. Lovely imagry, wonderful film.