He arrives at the ashram to take Kalyani with him, only to find that Kalyani has fatally drowned herself. Disgusted, he decides to walk out on his father and join Mahatma Gandhi ( Mohan Jhangiani). Narayan confronts his father, learning the reason for Kalyani's actions. In shock, she demands that he take her back. However, when Kalyani recognizes Narayan's bungalow, she realizes that Narayan is the son of one of the men whom she has been pimped out to. Much to everyone's surprise, the God-fearing Shakuntala lets Kalyani out to go meet Narayan, who ferries her across the river to take her to his home. Enraged at losing a source of income and afraid of the social disgrace, Madhumati locks Kalyani up. Her plan is disrupted when Chuyia accidentally reveals their affair to Madhumati. Despite her initial reluctance, Kalyani eventually buys into his dream of marriage and a new life in Calcutta. She befriends Kalyani, and witnesses Kalyani's budding romance with Narayan ( John Abraham), a charming upper-class follower of Mahatma Gandhi. She becomes attached to Chuyia upon her arrival at the ashram.Ĭhuyia is convinced that her stay is a temporary one and that her mother will come to take her away but quickly adapts to her new life. She seeks the counsel of Sadananda ( Kulbhushan Kharbanda), a priest, who makes her aware of her unjust and unholy situation. Shakuntala is caught between being a God-fearing, devout Hindu, and her hatred of being a widow. She exudes enough anger that even Madhumati leaves her alone. Attractive, witty and sharp, she is also one of the few widows who can read. Shakuntala ( Seema Biswas) is perhaps the most enigmatic of the women. Kalyani was forced into prostitution as a teenager to support the ashram. The two also have a side business: Gulabi helps Madhumati prostitute Kalyani ( Lisa Ray), a beautiful young widow, by ferrying her across the Ganges to customers. Her only friend is the pimp, Gulabi ( Raghuvir Yadav), a hijra who keeps Madhumati supplied with cannabis. The ashram is ruled by Madhumati ( Manorama), a pompous lady in her 70s. There are fourteen women who live in the dilapidated house, sent there to expiate bad karma, as well as to relieve their families of the financial and emotional burdens of caring for widows. In keeping with traditions of widowhood, she is dressed in a white sari, her head is shaven and she is left in an ashram, to spend the rest of her life in renunciation. Child marriage was common practice, and widows had a diminished position in society.Ĭhuyia ( Sarala Kariyawasam) is an eight-year-old girl, whose husband suddenly dies. The film is set in 1938 when India was still under British occupation. The film was also written by Deepa Mehta. In 2008, inspired by the film, Dilip Mehta directed a documentary, The Forgotten Woman about widows in India. After Rahman quit the film following nationwide controversy, the background score was composed by Mychael Danna, although the songs which Rahman had composed before opting out were retained. Rahman, with lyrics by Sukhwinder Singh and Raqeeb Alam. Featured songs for the film were composed by A. The film stars Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham and Sarala Kariyawasam in pivotal roles and Manorama, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav and Vinay Pathak in supporting roles. It was first released in India on 9 March 2007. The film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was honoured with the Opening Night Gala, and was released across Canada in November of that year. Water is a dark introspect into the tales of rural Indian widows in the 1940s and covers controversial subjects such as misogyny and ostracism. Sidhwa's earlier novel, Cracking India was the basis for Earth, the second film in the trilogy. Author Bapsi Sidhwa wrote the 2006 novel based upon the film, Water: A Novel, published by Milkweed Press. It was preceded by Fire (1996) and Earth (1998). The film is also the third and final instalment of Mehta's Elements trilogy. It is set in 1938 and explores the lives of widows at an ashram in Varanasi, India.
Water is a 2005 drama film written and directed by Deepa Mehta, with screenplay by Anurag Kashyap.