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Potential Filmmakers to Research

Deepa Mehta

Source:

John, Mathew P., and Robert K. Johnston. "The Elements Trilogy: A Cultural Critique of India." In Film as Cultural Artifact: Religious Criticism of World Cinema, 61-82. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, 2017. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1kgqtvf.10.

• This source looks at Deepa Mehta as an auteur in great detail. It examines the Elements trilogy in depth, with sections dedicated to all three of the films. One of the aspects I was looking forward to was a look into the "voice of feminism" in her films. I wish it had more details on the criticism her films got for portraying the women in her films as 'hopeless victims' of the patriarchy- which it does mention, but not in depth.

Subeshini Moodley. "Postcolonial Feminisms Speaking through an 'Accented' Cinema: The Construction of Indian Women in the Films of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta." Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, no. 58 (2003): 66-75. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/4548098.

• This article talks a lot about diasporic films produced in the transition between cultures and societies. It defines 'accented' cinema in relation to postcolonial feminism. The article is also broken down into the introduction, body, and a very strong conclusion where the writer draws from quotes from her sources. It would be more helpful if she had more primary sources, as they seem to be mostly secondary sources. But her take on diasporic films and the portrayal of postcolonial feminism in Mehta's work is profound.

Uraizee, Joya. "Gazing at the Beast: Describing Mass Murder in Deepa Mehta's Earth and Terry George's Hotel Rwanda." Shofar28, no. 4 (2010): 10-27. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/10.5703/shofar.28.4.10.

• This article just looks at Mehta's work in her film Earth, which is my personal favorite in the entire trilogy. I was most intrigued by this article because when we talk about Mehta's work we most often look at just Water, which happens to be the most recent film in the trilogy, or Fire , which is the first and most controversial film in the trilogy. Earth is, most often, overlooked and I would love to pay more attention to it because it starts a discourse on one of the most important, tragic, and historical events that took place and redefined India in almost all possible ways. The only thing I did not like about the article is the way it's been defined as a 'love-story gone sour', which isn't what the film focuses on at all.

Mira Nair

Source:

Nair, Mira, and Ameena Meer. "Mira Nair." BOMB, no. 36 (1991): 46-49. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/40425022.

• I thought this was the best article I found on Mira Nair because it is a primary source. It documents an interview with her where she talks about her background, her experience with film, her struggles with racial discrimination as a filmmaker- which would also allude to the argument concerning intersectionality. I wish she had spoken more about her films in particular, but this article was published in 1991 and her most famous films (Monsoon Wedding, Salaam Bombay) were produced almost a decade later. But it's interesting to get to know Mira Nair as a filmmaker before she became widely known for those films.

Shah, Amit. "A Dweller in Two Lands: MIRA NAIR, FILMMAKER." Cinéaste 15, no. 3 (1987): 22-23. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/41687477.

• This article talks a lot about how Nair's films are absent from the commercial film world of India, in a positive tone. It emphasizes on her films showing India through the eyes of complex characters, which makes a compelling read. But more than her fictional features, this article talks about Nair's documentaries which have been underrepresented. One of the films this article talks about is India Cabaret, which is a documentary exploring the 'respectable' and 'immoral' stereotypes, many Indian women are subjected to, through the eyes of two Indian strippers. It's focus on this film is in great detail, so there isn't enough room left to talk about Nair's other documentaries which also need to be talked about.

Projansky, Sarah, and Kent A. Ono. "FROM DOCUMENTARY TO FICTIONAL REALISM: MIRA NAIR’S DOCUMENTARY ROOTS, FICTIONAL HOME AND PRODUCTION POLITICS." In Indie Reframed: Women's Filmmaking and Contemporary American Independent Cinema, edited by Badley Linda, Perkins Claire, and Schreiber Michele, 171-87. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g0529f.16.

• This journal talks about Nair's films at great length, focusing on her documentaries and her fictional features. It draws facts and opinions from various sources, so it's incredibly detailed. It also talks about the film Kama-Sutra which is one of the least talked about films when it comes to Nair's work, even though it's one of the early Indian films that really explore female sexuality.

Subeshini Moodley. "Postcolonial Feminisms Speaking through an 'Accented' Cinema: The Construction of Indian Women in the Films of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta." Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, no. 58 (2003): 66-75. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/4548098.

Aparna Sen

Source:

Renuka Viswanathan. "'Mr. and Mrs. Iyer': Such a Long Journey." Economic and Political Weekly 38, no. 43 (2003): 4511-512. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/4414180.

• This article focuses solely on one of Sen's most successful films, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, which happens to be simple, but complex, story about a journey between two people- a woman and a man who meet on a bus from two very different social and cultural backgrounds. The story, and what this article emphasizes on, is about the role of a woman in the Indian society and how it is portrayed through a turbulent journey she takes to make it back to her husband. I wish the article focused more on the relationship between the her and the stranger she met on the bus, because her journey is defined by her experiences with him. I also wish it focused more on Sen's vision behind this film and what prompted her to tell this story, considering her own background as a filmmaker. (also perhaps a comparison with her other film The Japanese Wife)

Verma, Priya. "Women Filmmakers in India." Off Our Backs 35, no. 3/4 (2005): 53-55. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/20838326.

• It was admittedly difficult to find relevant articles on Sen, but this one briefly focuses on few of her other films and her role as a director. It definitely does not have the kind of details I would want it to have.

NIYOGI DE, ESHA. "Kinship Drives, Friendly Affect: Difference and Dissidence in the New Indian Border Cinema." In Dissident Friendships: Feminism, Imperialism, and Transnational Solidarity, edited by CHOWDHURY ELORA HALIM and PHILIPOSE LIZ, 143-59. Urbana; Chicago; Springfield: University of Illinois Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/10.5406/j.ctt1hd18pk.10.

• Granted that Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is one of Sen's most well-known films- this article talks about it more than it talks about her other films. Perhaps it is because this particular film was in Hindi/English and the rest of her films are in Bengali. But Sen being known best for her Bengali films, I would like to have more articles that talk about her role as a female filmmaker in the Bengali society and the disaporic films she made in relation to this society. This article briefly talks about her background as a Bengali female filmmaker, but barely gives it any importance.

Finalized Filmmaker

DEEPA MEHTA

What to add + Sources:

1. Turkienicz, Rachel. An Interview with Deepa Mehta, YouTube, 12 Aug. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHxkLbY_vsA.
   • In one of her interviews, Mehta goes into length about why she uses children/youth as her main characters and the intersection between innocence and reality. I believe that this is important to a lot of her films, especially the trilogy. Earth, for example, is told through the narration of Lenny. Water revolves around the fate of Chuhiya. In these films, respectively, children are hit with reality and form a deeper understanding with the politics of nationalism and religion. So, in the section dedicated to the trilogy/thematic elements, I believe it is important to have a section talking about Mehta's perspective on the inclusion of children in her films.
2. John, Mathew P., and Robert K. Johnston. "The Elements Trilogy: A Cultural Critique of India." In Film as Cultural Artifact: Religious Criticism of World Cinema, 61-82. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, 2017. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1kgqtvf.10.
   • This source looks at Deepa Mehta as an auteur in great detail. It examines the Elements trilogy in depth, with sections dedicated to all three of the films. One of the aspects I was looking forward to was a look into the "voice of feminism" in her films. The way Mehta addresses women in her films can go either way on the scale. On one hand, she portrays female struggles in different aspects of Indian society; sexuality, nationality, and religion. And it is this struggle that ultimately displays their strength. But on the other hand, there are arguments that Mehta focuses on women as hopeless victims in the Indian society. It would be interesting to write more about this debate.
3. Jazeera , Al. One on One with Deepa Mehta, YouTube, 6 Mar. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpyFmmwxcUM.
   • This interview goes into detail on not only the Elements Trilogy, but other films made by Mehta like Heaven on Earth which starts discourse on domestic violence. But most importantly, it talks about Mehta's identity as an indo-canadian filmmaker and how that plays into her role as a filmmaker. The current article on Mehta mentions her background but does not go into what she has to say about it and its influence on her art. In this interview by Al Jazeera, she talks about how it's never been about the 'east' or 'west' for her as she has been born and brought up in a dichotomous culture. She talks about her own history with the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh partition and how that played a role in her film Earth. She also talks about her role as a director not belonging to either Hollywood or Bollywood; industries that follow certain formulas when it comes to filmmaking, and the effect it had on her work getting financed. She takes the example of Fire, the first film in the trilogy, by talking about its financial struggles and the attention it received only after it's controversial success- which is when she caught the eye of investors and distributors.
4. Subeshini Moodley. "Postcolonial Feminisms Speaking through an 'Accented' Cinema: The Construction of Indian Women in the Films of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta." Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, no. 58 (2003): 66-75. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/4548098.
   • This article talks a lot about diasporic films produced in the transition between cultures and societies. It defines 'accented' cinema in relation to postcolonial feminism. The article is also broken down into the introduction, body, and a very strong conclusion where the writer draws from quotes from her sources. It would be more helpful if she had more primary sources, as they seem to be mostly secondary sources. But her take on diasporic films and the portrayal of postcolonial feminism in Mehta's work is profound.
5. Uraizee, Joya. "Gazing at the Beast: Describing Mass Murder in Deepa Mehta's Earth and Terry George's Hotel Rwanda." Shofar28, no. 4 (2010): 10-27. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.emory.edu/stable/10.5703/shofar.28.4.10.
   • This article just looks at Mehta's work in her film Earth, which is my personal favorite in the entire trilogy. I was most intrigued by this article because when we talk about Mehta's work we most often look at just Water, which happens to be the most recent film in the trilogy, or Fire , which is the first and most controversial film in the trilogy. Earth is, most often, overlooked and I would love to pay more attention to it because it starts a discourse on one of the most important, tragic, and historical events that took place and redefined India in almost all possible ways. The only thing I did not like about the article is the way it's been defined as a 'love-story gone sour', which isn't what the film focuses on at all.

Deepa Mehta (Draft)

Elements Trilogy: Further Understanding

Fire (1996)

While Fire opened at the Toronto Film Festival in 1996 and won an award at the People's Choice Awards, it was faced with severe criticism by extreme religious groups in India. There were protests, bans, and violent attacks on the movie theaters showcasing the film. The leaders of these extremist groups and conservative politicians even endorsed these acts due to the film being "alien to Indian culture", said by Manohar Joshi, the then chief minister of Maharashtra.

Fire tells the tale of two women, sister-in-laws to be precise, Radha and Sita. Radha (Shabana Azmi), is the wife of the oldest brother in a joint family household, who has failed to fulfill the duties of a traditional housewife, which is giving birth to children. Her husband, Ashok (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), never lets her forget his disappointment and takes up a life of celibacy and renunciation. Radha's marriage is something that lacks love both emotionally and physically, which forces her into a role of domestication even further; someone who cooks, cleans, and takes care of the needs of other family members. Ashok's younger brother, Jatin (Javed Jaffery) is more outgoing and rebellious than Ashok and is in love with a Chinese immigrant. Much to his disappointment, he is made to marry Sita (Nandita Das), in turn forcing a young and naive girl into another loveless marriage. The household seems to be a well-oiled machine, until Sita's obliviousness to old rules starts to progressively tear down the conventions that bind this household together. After finding out about her husband's affair, instead of retreating into her role as a housewife, Sita stirs up the dimensions of the household by demanding privileges and equal rights. The deprivation that both Radha and Sita are forced to endure is what brings them closer together, igniting a deeply intimate emotional and physical connection.

Mehta's thoughts on Fire

Mehta maintained that Fire had little to do with pushing the boundaries of sexuality in a different cultural context, but rather a tale that critiqued and commented on rigid structures of many joint family households in India. The core of the film, is a longing for self-expression: "“The struggle between tradition and individual expression is one that takes place in every culture. Fire deals with this specifically in the context of Indian society." Mehta also discusses the controversy surrounding fire in several interviews, where she mentions that the Shiv Sena (the political party in the state of Maharashtra) had "trashed movie halls overnight and said that the film was against the Indian culture". The conservative public outcry was that "lesbians don't exist in India and this was evil from the West". However, Mehta mentions that during one of the first protests in New Delhi, there was a candlelight vigil with several women and young men carrying placards that said "we are Indians and we are lesbians". Several Indians, despite the protests, did like the film and appealed to the Indian Censor Board in favor of Mehta.

1947: Earth (1998)

Deepa Mehta's Earth, based on a novel called Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa, is the second film in the trilogy and takes the audience back to one of the biggest political turning points in Indian history, the 1947 partition of India. This event was a time when India found itself in a state of political turmoil created due to the departure of the British Empire, dividing the country into Hindu and Muslim territories. Earth is set in Lahore, which during the time of the partition was a city in the middle of the blurred border between a Hindu-dominated India and a Muslim-dominated Pakistan, and depicts the events that unfold due to the eruption of a civil war from the political chaos taking place all over the country.

Earth tells the story of both camaraderie and rivalry between two religious communities in India through the eyes of a little girl, Lenny (Maiya Sethna), who is from an upper-middle class Farsi family not involved in the ongoing political turmoil. The adult Lenny, who narrates the story, reveals the devastation and tragedy occurring in the country through the character and relationships between those she interacts with on a daily basis, mainly her Hindu babysitter, Shanta (Nandita Das). Shanta often takes Lenny to the park where they interact with a group of men, involving those from Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh communities- functioning as the microcosm of Indian society. And together these communities, represented by these different people, form a united family. Shanta's charm and beauty attract many men towards her, especially those from the group, namely Dil Nawaz "the Ice-Candy man" (Aamir Khan), whom Lenny adores. But Shanta falls in love with Hassan (Rahul Khanna) the masseur, another member of their group- forming a proverbial love triangle that eventually results in tragedy. The romantic tension that arises is caused by the fact that Shanta is a Hindu and the two men are Muslims. When the partition takes place, both communities face devastation as they are driven out of their homes and forced into their respective countries. Hindus and Muslims turn on each other in the utmost violence and Sikhs get caught in the crossfire; hundreds of thousands are killed. In the film, this starts affecting the men in the group; friends turn against friends and eventually become enemies. The once charming and kind Dil Nawaz becomes a savage hunter, after seeing his sisters decaying bodies amongst thousands of other Muslim bodies on a train going to Pakistan, and roams the streets searching for Hindu preys. Hassan, on the other hand, implores his friends to see reason and stick by each other despite religious differences. However, during this turmoil, his voice of reason is powerless and is dominated by religious fanatics. As the events become more and more catastrophic in the film, Shanta and Hassan's romance is destroyed by a seething Dil Nawaz who watches them have sex and eventually murders Hassan, despite him being a Muslim. At the end, the two communities remain divided and the one spark of hope between the two is obliterated by hatred.

Collaboration with Bapsi Sidhwa

Bapsi Sidhwa, who wrote the book this film is based on, like Mehta, is an Indo-Canadian immigrant. This encouraged Mehta to collaborate with her to tell the story of the sectarian war that tore apart the countries that they both called home. Mehta carefully tells the tale of a peculiar relationship between politics and nationality, confronting her viewers with multiple questions on cultural-identity and religious-identity. In the end, the film neither blames politics/religion nor praises it, but rather leaves the audience searching for answers on the multiple forms of identity and the complexities of inter-religious relations during a period of political unrest and the inevitability of mass violence during this time.

Water (2005)

Water also generated controversy like Mehta's Fire. In fact, the film was under fire even before production by Hindu fundamentalists complaining about the portrayal of Hindu widows and their stance in society. According to an Indian Nationalist party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Water was condemned as an "attempt to misplace the identity and character of widows by presenting them as a laughing stock to movie waters in the Western world. When the film began production in Varanasi, there was an angry mob that attacked the crew, stormed the location, and burned Mehta's effigy in public. Mehta shut down her set because she feared the safety of her cast and crew. “In many ways I felt I was watching a movie. I was scared. I had never seen so many machine guns. I had never had such immediate physical threats or death threats that I was the focus of, and I must say I was really upset. Upset sounds too good, I was devastated. And it took me a year or more to get out of it.” The production resumed after five years and was filmed in top secret in Sri Lanka.

Water is set in 1938, a time in India where the colonial power was on the verge of collapsing and there was discourse amongst Indians regarding their social and political future. The story's main protagonist is Chuhiya (Sarala Kariyawasam), a child who has recently been widowed and fallen victim to the strict and notorious rules of leading the life of a widow in an ashram located by the Ganges in Varanasi. The matriarch of this ashram, Madhumati (Manorama) is willing to go to any extent for the survival of the ashram and herself, including offering one of the other widows, Kalyani (Lisa Ray) who hasn't cut her hair off like the others, as a prostitute to the rich zamindars in the area. Narayan (John Abraham), who is a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, falls in love with Kalyani and decides to marry her against the laws that prohibit the remarriage of widows. Despite this law being lifted, the deep-rooted religious customs drive Madhumati to cut off Kalyani's hair, in the hopes to make her "unattractive", and confines her in a room. Despite Kalyani being rescued by one of the other widows, Shakuntala (Seema Biswas), she eventually commits suicide due to the knowledge that she once served Narayan's father as a prostitute. Chuhiya, consequently, is turned into a prostitute by Madhumati which eventually leads to the shattering of the blind faith that Shakuntala had on religion and traditions. Shakuntala carries Chuhiya to a rally by Gandhi, who acts as a the voice of true liberation that doesn't only come from political freedom but the healing of wounds inflicted by ancient customs and traditions. The manner in which she rescues Chuhiya, by frantically putting her in Narayan’s arms, depicts a sense of liberation from misogynistic conventions not brought on by religion, but by man’s interpretation of it. So while the film begins with the prospect of a love story, it ends with enlightenment from a feminist perspective and hope for a brighter beginning.

Recognition for Water

The film was showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005, receiving great praise from the critics and audience members, It won three Genie Awards and several prizes from all around the world. Eventually, it was also brought into a bigger limelight when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the film for the Oscars in the best foreign-film category.

Mehta as a Transnational Filmmaker

Mehta's marriage to a Canadian citizen, and her migration to Canada, gave her a hyphenated identity as an Indo-Canadian woman. This identity comes through in her films, which offers the audience a fresh perspective and context within an environment that is cross-cultural As a result, Mehta is also known as a diasporic filmmaker. Mehta's films, which are diasporic in nature, produce a transition between cultures and societies. Furthermore, it produces a dialogue between Mehta's home and host societies. Evidently, by looking at the Elements Trilogy, there is communication between society in India and societies in the West. The topic of colonialism is heavy in this trilogy (being brought up in both Earth and Water) along with the discourse created between women questioning their place in rigid customs and seeking more liberation, and the comparisons of family dynamics and structures with that of the West, which has contributed greatly to the understanding and context transnational cinema in the modern Indian society.

(on-going research on Earth)