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Troubled Water Deepa Mehta makes terrible films -- but nobody has the right to stop her By APARISIM GHOSH February 10, 2000 Web posted at 6 a.m. Hong Kong time, 5 p.m. EST So Deepa Mehta's in the wars again. The controversial director of films like Fire and Earth has long been a target for Hindu-extremist groups who accuse her of demeaning Indian culture. Two years ago, Fire was excoriated by Hindu fanatics because it dared to deal with lesbianism: some movie halls were vandalized by folks who believe there's something inherently un-Indian about homosexuality. Last week, a mob in the holy city of Varanasi smashed the set of her new film, Water. This time, they accuse the director of defaming their city and showing Hindu widows in poor light--the screenplay suggests some child widows in the 1930s were forced into prostitution.
For the record, I think Mehta is a hugely overrated director: Fire is among the worst films I have ever seen. The tale is interesting enough, but it is poorly told--the acting is stilted, editing jumpy and directing unimaginative. Earth, Mehta's take on Partition, is marginally better, but overlong and all too formulaic. So I have no great expectations of Water, and probably won't see it. But the quality of Mehta's work is beside the point. Indian law doesn't prohibit mediocre movies. If it did, the country's huge film industry would be reduced to ruin. Mehta has a right to make her films. By failing to protect that right, the BJP governments in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have shown, yet again, that the party of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is unable (or unwilling) to rein in its lunatic fringe. For years now, religious zealots have been chipping away at India's credentials as a champion of artistic freedom. They struck another blow last week in Varanasi, as two governments looked on. Never mind how that affected the country's image in the world, the real damage was done at home. When artists--even bad ones--are prevented from practicing their craft, all of society suffers. Ticked off at Asia Buzz? Talk back to TIME Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com Search for recent Asia Buzz
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