Deep a Me h t a , “A ll Ha i l , A r yaa r t a ! ” B y: Ros e McI n er n ey You might want to indulge in a spicy masala chai tea and warm pashmina when you read this story about Indo-Canadian filmmaker, Deepa Mehta.
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er contributions to the film industry are as long as they are steeped in provocative and important conversations about traditional beliefs and social mores around India’s women, misogyny and discrimination. As if tackling these challenging issues were not enough, Deepa’s films have also explored broader topics including India’s violent history and modern-day struggles ranging from gang warfare to the immigrant experience. It’s why, in part, the uncompromising Deepa Mehta is our WS feature for September 2019. Deepa’s style is dramatic, hard-hitting and spellbinding. It has incited Indians to riot in the streets and burn effigies in the Ganges River. Yet, nothing has stopped Deepa from pushing the boundaries as a woman born in Punjab, India now living in Canada. As an Indo-Canadian, Deepa grew up in New Delhi and studied in the foothills of the Himalayas. Armed with a degree in Philosophy, she got her start making movies for the Indian government. It was there that she met her first husband, Paul Saltzman, a Canadian film director, and soon moved with him to Canada in 1973. A broad range of films followed, quickly garnering attention, particularly her directorial feature-film debut, Sam & Me. It tells the story of a young Indian boy and his unlikely friendship with an elderly Jewish gentleman in Toronto.
26 WS MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2019
The film had a whopping $1 million-dollar budget - the highest at this point - for a woman working as a director in Canada in 1991. This put Deepa on the map and won her an honorable mention at the Cannes Film Festival. It also led in 1996 to her founding Hamilton-Mehta Productions with her second husband, producer David Hamilton. More dramatic and commercially successful movies followed, and Deepa continued to explore what was close to her heart - India’s national and cultural identity. The revolutionary quality of her work stretched the boundaries of India’s tolerance, especially because she was a woman asking questions about long-entrenched beliefs and practices crucial to India’s legacy. Other than her comedic 2002 Bollywood Hollywood movie, Deepa’s movies have been seriously engaged in controversy. Thankfully, their widespread acclaim has made Deepa one of my favorite artists and one of Canada’s most internationally renowned filmmakers. Deepa fans would agree she’s best known for her Elements Trilogy of films, beginning in 1996 with the first film, Fire. Fire speaks to two contentious subjects that stirred anger and discontent: arranged marriages and homosexuality. The love affair between two sisters challenged India’s conservative views and riots in the streets quickly denounced Deepa as a casualty of western corruption.
