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Deep 'Water' for new Mehta film, amid rightwing violence

NEW DELHI: Shooting on the latest film from controversial Indian-born filmmaker Deepa Mehta has been halted following violent protests by Hindu fundamentalists, reports said on Monday.

Hundreds of activists from rightwing Hindu groups attacked and destroyed the sets of the film "Water" at the weekend before shooting could begin in the city of Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges river.

The violence led the city authorities to slap a temporary ban on the film's production, while assessments were made over the consequences for the law and order situation.

Although the script of "Water" is a closely guarded secret, the protestors claimed the film "tarnished" Hindu traditions and depicted a torrid inter-caste love affair, the Times of India said.

"Water" is the final part of Mehta's film trilogy about India, which has been dogged by controversy from the start.

The first film in the series, "Fire," attracted attacks on movie theatres by right-wing Hindus outraged by the film's protrayal of a relationship.

Describing the latest protests as "heart breaking," an angry Mehta slammed the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, saying it was changing tack after initially clearing her script without any deletions.

"Suddenly, the liaison officer Krishna Murari asked for the Hindi script of the movie and said he needed a fortnight to study it," said Mehta, adding, "before a book is published, somebody is writing the review."

The Indian-born Canadian director also denied there was anything that could be seen as derogatory to Hinduism in the film which depicts the lives of Indian widows in Varanasi in the 1930s.

Far from denigrating the holy city and its age-old traditions, "Water" extols the "vibrant currents and undercurrents" of the people who live on the banks of the sacred Ganges, Mehta said.

"The movie celebrates the dignity of women. It is about Mahatma Gandhi's belief that women in India should be liberated. I also want to show how women have been subjugated all over the world," she told reporters. AFP