Deepa Mehta

Deepa Mehta, OC OOnt ([d̪iːpa ˈmeːɦt̪a] born 1 January 1950) is an Indo-Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005).

Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta in 2005
Born	1 January 1950 Amritsar, East Punjab, India
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, film producer
Years active	1976–present
Known for	Elements Trilogy
Spouse(s)	Paul Saltzman ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1983)​ David Hamilton (– present)
Children	Devyani Saltzman (daughter)
Relatives	Dilip Mehta (brother)

Earth was submitted by India as its official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and Water was Canada's official entry for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, making it only the third non-French-language Canadian film submitted in that category after Attila Bertalan's 1990 invented-language film A Bullet to the Head and Zacharias Kunuk's 2001 Inuktitut-language feature Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner.

She co-founded Hamilton-Mehta Productions, with her husband, producer David Hamilton in 1996. She was awarded a Genie Award in 2003 for the screenplay of Bollywood/Hollywood.[1] In May 2012, Mehta received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.[2]

Early life

Mehta was born in Amritsar, Punjab[3] though her family moved to New Delhi while she was still a child, and her father worked as a film distributor. Subsequently, Mehta attended Welham Girls High School, boarding school in Dehradun on the foothills of Himalayas.[4] She graduated from the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi with a degree in Philosophy.[5]

Career

After graduating Mehta began working for a production company that made documentary and educational films for the Indian government.[6] During the production of her first feature-length documentary focusing on the working life of a child bride,[6] she met and married Canadian documentary filmmaker Paul Saltzman, who was in India making a film. She migrated to Toronto to live with her husband in 1973.[7]

Once in Canada, Mehta and Saltzman along with Mehta's brother Dilip started Sunrise Films, a production company, initially producing documentaries but moved into television production creating the television series Spread Your Wings (1977–79) about the creative and artistic work of young people from around the world.[6] Additionally, Mehta directed several episodes of the Saltzman produced CBC drama Danger Bay (1984–90).[7]

Mehta also directed the documentaries At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch (1975)[6] and Traveling Light (1986), the latter focusing on the work of Mehta's brother Dilip as a photojournalist. Traveling Light would go on to be nominated for three Gemini Awards. In 1987, based on the works of Alice Munro, Cynthia Flood and Betty Lambert, Mehta produced and co-directed Martha, Ruth and Edie. Screened at the Cannes International Film Festival, it would go on to win the Best Feature Film Award at the 11th International Film Festival in Florence in 1988.[6]

In 1991 she made her feature-film directorial debut with Sam & Me (starring Om Puri), a story of the relationship between a young Indian boy and an elderly Jewish gentleman in the Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale. It broke the record at the time for the highest-budgeted film directed by a woman in Canada at $11 million.[7] It won Honorable Mention in the Camera d'Or category of the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Mehta followed this with her film Camilla starring Bridget Fonda and Jessica Tandy in 1994. In 2002, she directed Bollywood/Hollywood, for which she won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay.[1]

Mehta directed two episodes of George Lucas' television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.[8] The first episode, "Benares, January 1910", aired in 1993. The second episode was aired in 1996 as part of a TV movie titled Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father.

Mehta directed several English-language films set in Canada, including The Republic of Love (2003) and Heaven on Earth (2008) which deals with domestic violence and has Preity Zinta playing the female lead. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.[9] Also in 2008 Mehta produced the documentary The Forgotten Woman, directed by her brother Dilip.[7]

In 2015, Mehta wrote and directed the crime thriller Beeba Boys (2015), a film starring Randeep Hooda as Jeet Johar, a proud observant Sikh and a ruthless gangster. It premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[10]

On 29 October 2020, Telefilm Canada announced that Metha's film Funny Boy (2020) would represent Canada in the Academy Awards race for best international feature film.[11]

Elements trilogy

Mehta is best known for her Elements Trilogy — Fire (1996), Earth (1998) (released in India as 1947: Earth), and Water (2005) — which won her much critical acclaim.[12] Some notable actors who have worked in this trilogy are Aamir Khan, Seema Biswas, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, John Abraham, Rahul Khanna, Lisa Ray, and Nandita Das. These films are also notable for Mehta's collaborative work with author Bapsi Sidhwa. Sidhwa's novel Cracking India (1991, U.S.; 1992, India; originally published as Ice Candy Man, 1988, England) is the basis for Mehta's 1998 film Earth. Mehta's film Water was later published by Sidhwa as the 2006 novel Water: A Novel. All three films have soundtracks composed by A. R. Rahman.

Fire follows the love affair between two sisters-in-law whose own sexless marriages bring them together in a passionate romance. It caused controversy upon its release as several Hindutva groups took issue with its central lesbian romance, one that was seen to break traditional family and religious value within society, as there were protests in cities across India.[13] Internationally, the film was critically acclaimed and would go on to win the Most Popular Canadian Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival.[7] This was also the first feature length dramatic film which Mehta both wrote and directed, a practice which she would continue throughout the rest of her career.[6]

Earth focuses on the time before and during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 and how the life of one family was uprooted by this historical event. The film resembled Mehta's own family history as her parents fled the newly created Pakistan in 1947 whilst Mehta herself was born in Punjab, not far from the Indian/Pakistan border.[6]

Water is the story of an eight-year-old child widow who is forced to enter a house of widows for the rest of her life. The film, meant to be shot in India, was attacked by Hindu fundamentalists who saw the film as disrespectful and who took issues with Mehta's earlier films and their portrayal of Hindu culture.[13] Riots broke out, sets were destroyed, and death threats were issued towards the actors and Mehta, forcing production to stop. The regional government then overruled the permission given from the central government to the production which allowed them to film in the holy city of Varanasi however,[13] four years later the movie was made in Sri Lanka.[14] Water opened the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.[15]

Midnight's Children

Mehta collaborated on the screenplay for Midnight's Children with the novel's author, Salman Rushdie.[16][17][18] British-Indian actor Satya Bhabha played the role of Saleem Sinai[19] while other roles were played by Shriya Saran, Seema Biswas, Shabana Azmi, Anupam Kher, Siddharth Narayan, Rahul Bose, Soha Ali Khan,[20] Shahana Goswami[21] and Darsheel Safary.[22]

The film was released on 9 September 2012 at Toronto International Film Festival[23] and would be nominated for Best Motion Picture along with 7 other nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards.[7]

Themes

Many of Mehta's films across her career have focused on the duality of her national and cultural identity which has informed much of her filmmaking as she has been described as the "quintessential transnational filmmaker".[24] With her childhood and heritage informing her of key Indian and Hindu traditions, she has been seen to compare these practices with a more "Westernized" philosophy that has often resulted in controversy.[13] The production of her film Water was delayed by protests from Hindu fundamentalists whilst several of her other films releases have seen boycotts across India, including the film Fire.[13]

Personal life

In Canada she met and married filmmaker Paul Saltzman whom she divorced in 1983. The couple have a daughter, Devyani Saltzman, an acclaimed author, curator and cultural critic.

Mehta is currently married to producer David Hamilton.[25] Her brother, Dilip Mehta, is a photojournalist and film director. He directed Cooking with Stella, which he co-wrote with Deepa.[5]

Mehta participated in a TV PSA for the charity Artists Against Racism, and is a member of the organization.[26]

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Producer	Notes
1975	At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch	Yes	No	No	Documentary short film
1986	K.Y.T.E.S: How We Dream Ourselves	Yes	No	Yes	Documentary film
1988	Martha, Ruth and Edie	Yes	No	Yes	Directorial debut
1991	Sam & Me	Yes	No	Yes
1994	Camilla	Yes	No	No
1996	Fire	Yes	Yes	Yes
1998	Earth	Yes	Yes	Yes
2002	Bollywood/Hollywood	Yes	Yes	No	Also executive music producer
2003	The Republic of Love	Yes	Yes	No
2005	Water	Yes	Yes	No	Also development consultant
2006	Let's Talk About It	Yes	No	No	Documentary film; direct-to-video
2008	The Forgotten Woman	No	Yes	Executive	Documentary film
	Heaven on Earth	Yes	Yes	Executive
2009	Cooking with Stella	No	Yes	Executive
2012	Midnight's Children	Yes	Yes	Executive	Based on the novel by Salman Rushdie[16]
2015	Beeba Boys	Yes	Yes	No	[27]
2016	Mostly Sunny	No	Yes	No	Documentary film
	Anatomy of Violence	Yes	No	No
	Fantassút	No	No	Yes	Documentary short film
	The Big Crunch	No	No	Associate	Short film
2020	Violation	No	No	Executive
2020	Funny Boy	Yes	Yes	No	Adaptation of the novel by Shyam Selvadurai

TV and web series

Year	Title	Director	Screenwriter	Executive producer	Notes
1976–1981	Spread Your Wings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Documentary: director (4 episodes); writer (episode "Child of the Andes"); executive producer (13 episodes); production (2 episodes); sound (10 episodes)
1989–1990	Danger Bay	Yes	No	No	4 episodes
1993–1996	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Yes	No	No	2 episodes
2019	Leila	Yes	Yes	Creative	A Netflix original series based on a missing girl named leila: director (2 episodes); writer and creative executive producer (6 episodes)
2020	Little America	Yes	No	No	Episode "The Manager"

As actress

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	For the Record	Ranjeet Singh	TV Series (episode "Reasonable Force")
1990	Jurm	Cameo
	Aashiqui	Cameo
2005	Water	Special Appearance

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2016	Toronto International Film Festival	Best Canadian Feature Film	Anatomy of Violence	Nominated
	Valladolid International Film Festival	Golden Spike – Best Film		Nominated
	Washington DC South Asian Film Festival	Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema		Won
2015	Toronto Film Critics Association Awards	Clyde Gilmour Award		Won
	Toronto International Film Festival	Best Canadian Feature Film	Beeba Boys	Nominated
2013	Canadian Screen Awards	Achievement in Direction	Midnight's Children	Nominated
	Directors Guild of Canada	DGC Team Award – Feature Film		Won
2012	London Film Festival	Best Film		Nominated
	Valladolid International Film Festival	Golden Spike – Best Film		Nominated
2009	Directors Guild of Canada	DGC Team Award – Feature Film	Heaven on Earth	Nominated
	Genie Awards	Best Screenplay, Original		Nominated
	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Director – Canadian Film		Nominated
2008	Dubai International Film Festival	Muhr AsiaAfrica Award: Best Scriptwriter – Feature		Won
		Muhr AsiaAfrica Award: Best Film – Feature		Nominated
2007	Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists	Silver Ribbon – Best Non-European Director	Water	Nominated
	Chlotrudis Awards	Best Director		Nominated
	Awards of the International Indian Film Academy	Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema		Won
2006	Genie Awards	Best Achievement in Direction	Water	Nominated
	Oslo Films from the South Festival	Silver Mirror Award – Best Feature		Won
	New York Film Critics	Humanitarian Award		Won
	San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival	Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature		Won
	Taormina International Film Festival	Arte Award		Won
	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Director – Canadian Film		Won
	Women Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Foreign Movie by or About Women		Won
2005	Toronto Female Eye Film Festival	Honorary Director Award		Won
	Valladolid International Film Festival	Youth Jury Award	Water	Won
		Golden Spike		Nominated
2003	Directors Guild of Canada	DGC Team Award – Feature Film	Bollywood/Hollywood	Won
	Genie Awards	Best Screenplay, Original		Won
	Newport International Film Festival	Student Jury Award		Won
	Sarasota Film Festival	Audience Award – Best Comedy		Won
	Vancouver Film Critics Circle	Best Director – Canadian Film		Nominated
1997	Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival	Best Feature Film	Fire	Won
	L.A. Outfest	Outstanding Narrative Feature		Won
	Verona Love Screens Film Festival	Best Film		Won
1996	Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival	Special Prize of the Jury		Won
		International Independent Award		Nominated
	Vancouver International Film Festival	Most Popular Canadian Film		Won
1976	Chicago International Film Festival	Gold Hugo – Best Documentary	At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch	Nominated

In addition to her filmmaking awards, Mehta has received the following honors:

• Doctor of Laws, University of Victoria, 2009[28]
• Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, 2012[29]
• Doctor of Laws, Mount Allison University, 2013[30]
• Doctor of Letters, Concordia University, 2013[31]
• Member of the Order of Ontario, 2013[32]
• Officer of the Order of Canada, 2013[33]

See also

• List of female film and television directors
• List of LGBT-related films directed by women
• South Asian Canadians in the Greater Toronto Area
• Women's cinema

References

1. "Deepa Metha". Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
2. "Deepa Mehta biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
3. "The Canadian Encyclopedia bio". Archived from the original on 4 December 2008.
4. "Welham Girls' School". doonschools.com. Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2007.
5. Beard. p 270
6. "Deepa Mehta – Celebrating Women's Achievements".
7. "Deepa Mehta".
8. http://bostonreview.net/film/forbidden-hope
9. "Toronto film festival to 'salute' Indian cinema". The Economic Times. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
10. "Toronto to open with 'Demolition'; world premieres for 'Trumbo', 'The Program'". screendaily.com. Screen Daily. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
11. "Deepa Mehta movie 'Funny Boy' chosen as Canada's Oscar contender". Global News. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
12. Catsoulis, Jeannette (28 April 2006). "Movie Review: Water (2005): NYT Critics' Pick". New York Times.
13. Burton, David F. "Fire, Water and The Goddess: The Films of Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray as Critiques of Hindu Patriarchy". Journal of Religion and Film. 17: 1–22.
14. "Deepa Mehta: A director in deep water – all over again". The Independent. 19 May 2006.
15. http://tiff.net/CANADIANFILMENCYCLOPEDIA/content/films/water%5B%5D
16. "Rushdie visits Mumbai for 'Midnight's Children' film". Movies.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
17. Subhash K Jha (13 January 2010). "I'm a film buff: Rushdie". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
18. Mendes, Ana Cristina; Kuortti, Joel (21 December 2016). "Padma or No Padma: Audience in the Adaptations of Midnight's Children". The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 52 (3): 501–518. doi:10.1177/0021989416671171. hdl:10451/29281. ISSN 0021-9894. S2CID 164759708.
19. "Deepa finds Midnight's Children lead". Times of India. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
20. Dreaming of Midnight's Children
21. Irrfan moves from Mira Nair to Deepa Mehta Archived 4 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
22. Jha, Subhash K. (31 March 2011). "Darsheel Safary Darsheel Safary in Midnight's Children". Times of India. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
23. Nolen, Stephanie (15 May 2011). "Mehta at midnight". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
24. Stojanova, Christina (2010). The Gendered Screen: Canadian Women Filmmakers. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 217–232.
25. "Deepa Mehta is rightly being celebrated". Rediff.com. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
26. "TV – Artists Against Racism".
27. "Randeep Hooda plays gangster in Deepa Mehta's next".
28. "Honorary Degrees For Leaders in Arts, Business And Law". Communications.uvic.ca. 5 November 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
29. "Rush wins Governor General's Award". CBC News. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
30. "Honorary degree recipients 21st century". Mount Allison University.
31. "Honorary degree recipients". Concordia University.
32. "25 Appointees Named to Ontario's Highest Honour". Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
33. "Appointments to the Order of Canada". 28 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.

• Beard, William; Jerry White (2002). "Deepa Mehta as Transnational Filmmaker". North of everything: English-Canadian cinema since 1980. University of Alberta. ISBN 978-0-88864-390-2.
• Levitin, Jacqueline; Judith Plessis; Valerie Raoul (2003). "25 An Introduction to Deepa Mehta: Making Films in Canada and India". Women Filmmakers: Refocusing. UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0903-0.

External links

• Deepa Mehta at IMDb
• Hamilton Mehta Productions
• Deepa Mehta In Profile, a short film tribute on her Governor General's Performing Arts Award, National Film Board of Canada website
• Deepa Mehta speaks with WSWS 15 May 2006 with Richard Phillips on the World Socialist Web Site