Uttara Choudhury
November 05, 2005
Bollywood star Rahul Khanna travelled to New York
this week to present an Indo-American Arts Council
award to filmmaker Deepa Mehta. On the opening night
of the Indian Film Festival here he had something
quite original to say about his first director, a
fierce force.
"I actually got to work with Deepa Mehta on
my first film, `Earth`. It's like getting a Rolls
Royce for your first car," said Khanna to a full
house of cinema enthusiasts. Mehta ruffled Khanna's
hair in a bid to shut him up. But he wouldn't stop
till he declared her "an absolute sweetheart."
Mehta, an Indian-born Canadian filmmaker who was
honoured at the New York Film Festival, received death
threats in 2000 while shooting `Water` in the north
Indian city of Varanasi. "But a lot has changed
in India since then. There was a particular mindset
when the Bharatiya Janta Party was in power. When
there is a secular government people are not hesitant
to say what can get construed as anti-Indian or anti-Hindu,"
she told DNA. "I was born in India and studied
in Delhi University. I may be 'that thing' called
a NRI, but you can't take India out of me" she
declared. We put her through a rapid fire round:
When did you decide to become a filmmaker?
I have been a `film nut` for a long time. However,
I was in my mid-20s when I first seriously decided
to be a filmmaker.
You shot `Water` in Sri Lanka after Hindu fundamentalists
forced you to shut down production on the banks of
the Ganges. Some filmmakers might have given up right
then. What prompted you to keep going till you made
this film?
`Water` is in its essence about the oppression of
women by the dictates of Manu. The script demanded
that I don't give up on it!
Given the uphill battle in making the movie, do
you feel vindicated by the international critical
acclaim and great reviews the film has received?
Great reviews, international acclaim are the response
to the film - it is not about personal vindication.
Will `Water` be screened in Mumbai and the rest
of India?
Yes. The distribution rights are in the process of
being negotiated - there is a lot of interest in it
from two Indian distributors. One based in New Delhi
and the other in Mumbai.
Do you expect Hindu fundamentalists to create
problems for its screening in India or do you think
things have changed in the past four years?
I hope not. What happened four years ago was an unfortunate
response to a script that never got a chance to be
made into a film. The film now stands on its own merit.
I would wish for it to be judged as just that - a
movie.
Are you planning any more India-centric films?
Yes. I love India! But for the next three months
my time and energy will be directed at promoting `Water`.
Do you feel a film is only worth making if it
challenges mindsets, shakes things up and generates
some heated debate along the way?
I made `Bollywood Hollywood` - wrote it and it certainly
isn't a film that has generated heated debates.
Do you visit India often?
My parents live in New Delhi, as does my extended
family. I am there at least four to five times a year.
It is home in many ways.
The writer is based in New York
