‘I feared India would never get to see Water’

Many years ago, when I was young I got to meet some widows in Benaras. I was deeply moved by their predicament. I vowed to make a film on them some day.

Many years ago, when I was young I got to meet some widows in Benaras. I was deeply moved by their predicament. I vowed to make a film on them some day.

It was hard the first time when we decided to shoot the film in India. The sets of the film were set on fire by radical Hindu protestors. I was forced to shelve my project….

The second time round, when we shot in Sri Lanka with Seema Biswas replacing Shabana Azmi, Lisa Ray stepping in for Nandita Das and John Abraham coming in for Akshay Kumar, it was an invigorating and stimulating experience. I changed the title to River Moon because I did not want to attract any more attention. Then when it was ready, I reverted the title back to Water. In retrospect, I think this Water is far more beautiful than the previous one.

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All three films in the triology—Earth, Fire and Water have been titled after elements that can either nurture or destroy us. And like them, I believe I have grown as a filmmaker too during the five-year hiatus. We cannot go through a trial by fire and come out unscathed. Yet, I would like to believe that I have become stronger after the experience in India. I don’t blame India for what happened. I care deeply for my country. But the fact remains that Water is a Canadian entry.

There was a sense of depression initially as I had thought India would never get to see the film. Now that it is set to hit the Indian screens on March 9, I’m thrilled. After all, I was born in India and the film too was originally supposed to be shot in India. It is in Hindi, has Indian actors, is made by an almost Indian crew and most importantly, is an Indian story.

I was nervous wondering if any distributor would buy and release the film here. That Ravi Chopra was willing to take the chance heartens me, gives me hope. It was John (Abraham) who requested Ravi to watch Water when he was shooting with him during Baabul. So overwhelmed was he that he decided BR Films would distribute Water even though it was a risk and he was aware of the controversies.

The Indian release comes in the wake of the film’s critical and box-office success and after being nominated for the 2007’s Oscar. There’s a lot of curiosity and Water will be released with over 100 prints in all the major cities of India.

As told to Namita Nivas