Deepa Mehta - Director Of The Eminent
Deepa was born on 1st January 1950 in Amritsar in Punjab
, India, their family later moved to Delhi. Her schooling took place at Welham Girls high School, a boarding school at Dehradun. She later acquired a degree in Philosophy from University of Delhi. Deepa migrated to Canada in the year 1973.
Deepa started off her film career by writing screenplays for children films. Her directorial debut was a documentary named AT 99: A Portrait Of Louise Tandy Murch(1976) in English. Her next documentary was Martha, Ruth And Edie(1988). Deepa also directed a few episodes of a television series Danger Bay in 1989.
Deepa first feature film was Sam And Me(1991) starring veteran Indian actor Om Puri. The film is a story of an Indian boy who migrated to Canada, and befriends an elderly Jewish man. The movie is a whirlwind of emotions experienced by every immigrant.
Her next film was Camilla(1994), which was an adventure story, starringJessica Tandy(as Camilla) and Bridget Fonda. Fire(1996) was a film making a bold comment on lesbian relationship among Indian women. Starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, the film was deemed controversial by Indian conformists.
There was a lot of hullabaloo by right wing Hindu groups after the film released in India in 1998. Fire(1996) was the first film of Deepa elemental trilogy . However, Deepa was not deterred by the pandemonium and continued to direct films.
Deepa next film in the elemental trilogy, 1947: Earth(1998), reflected series of events at Lahore at the time of partition of India. This movie was based on Bapsi Sidhwa novel Cracking India. The film had a bunch of colorful characters played by Aamir Khan, Nandita Das and debutant Rahul Khanna, delivering powerful performances.
1947 Earth(1998) was highly praised by critics. The film was India official entry to 72ndAcademy Awards in the category of Best Foreign film. BOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD(2002) was a lighthearted, humorous, and family oriented film.
It was a poke at stereotypical Indian traditions and Bollywood. This film was very different than Deepa elemental trilogy films, and apparently provided her with a breathing space. Her next film, THE Republic Of Love(2003) was a romantic comedy starring Bruce Greenwood and Emilia Fox.
The film received mixed reaction from critics. Water(2005), third installment in Deepa elemental trilogy was an account of lives of widows at an ashram in Varanasi, India back in 1938. The film was originally made in English and dialogues were translated in Hindi with the assistance of Anurag Kashyap.
It starred many of Bollywod big names like Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham and Waheeda Rehman. The film won Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. Jeannette Catsoulis, of The New York Times says, Serene on the surface yet roiling underneath, the film neatly parallels the plight of widows under Hindu fundamentalism to that of India under British colonialism, while commenting on the film.
Deepa had to once again face the hostility of right wing Hindu activists at the time of shooting of Water(2005). 2,000 protesters had stormed the ghats, destroying and blazing the main film set and throwing the leftovers into the Ganges in protest of what ultimately were revealed to be false accusations regarding the subject of the film.
Originally scheduled to shoot in 2000, Water(2005) was delayed till 2003. Deepa next film, Heaven On Earth(2008) starred Preity Zinta as Chand, who is forcefully married to an Indo Canadian man. The film was released in a dubbed version in India under title VIDESH.
Deepa won Best Screenplay Award for this film at Dubai International Film Festival. The film was also awarded with Best Canadian Film Award at Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2008. Deepa also directed some television series, parts of The Indiana Jones Series in 1993, 1996 and 2007.
Deepa Mehta upcoming films include Kogamata Maru, which is based on the journey of a ship smuggling immigrants from Hong Kong to Vancouver. She is also working on a currently un named project based on Salman Rushdie Booker Price winner Novel Midnight Children.
Deepa married Canadian documentarian Paul Saltzman in 1973 who was in India to make a documentary. She later migrated to Canada. Deepa and Paul have a daughter, Devyani Saltzman who is an author. She divorced Paul Saltzman in 1983.
Deepa is currently married to producer David Hamilton. Her brother, Dilip Mehta is a photojournalist and film director.
by: Karishma Roy
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