Deepa
Mehta
feels
Punjabi,
the
language
in
which
she
has
made
her
latest
film
Heaven
On
Earth,
has
gained
as
much
acceptance
at
the
just-concluded
Toronto
Film
Festival
as
any
language
film
from
any
part
of
the
world.
"This
was
the
film's
first
public
screening.
And
no
one
saw
it
as
an
esoteric
film
in
an
Indian
regional
language."
And
if
Deepa
had
her
way,
she
would
not
dub
Heaven
On
Earth
in
Hindi
for
its
Indian
release
in
October,
if
it
wasn't
for
the
film's
Indian
distributor
Ravi
Chopra
who
thinks
the
film
will
have
wider
reach
in
Hindi.
"I've
to
respect
Mr
Chopra's
opinion.
He
and
his
father
the
illustrious
B
R
Chopra
understand
the
Indian
market
much
better
than
I
do.
They've
earlier
distributed
my
film
Water",
says
Deepa.
If
the
just-concluded
Toronto
Film
Festival
is
anything
to
go
by,
Indian
cinema
finally
seems
to
be
coming
of
age
globally.
In
terms
quality
and
connectivity,
this
year's
just-concluded
Toronto
Film
Festival
has
been
the
most
prosperous
productive
and
passionate
year
for
Indian
cinema
at
any
international
festival
in
recent
times.
Deepa
Mehta
who
was
represented
by
her
haunting
and
redemptive
film
on
wife
battering
Heaven
On
Earth
was
bowled
over
by
the
films
at
the
Festival
with
an
Indian
theme.
"Not
just
me.
But
everyone
was
stunned
by
the
films
from
and
about
India
this
year.
My
dear
friend
Nandita
Das
(who
has
been
part
of
two
of
my
most
important
works
Fire
and
1947
Earth)
wowed
Toronto
with
her
directorial
debut
Firaaq.
Nobody
said
it
was
a
good
first-time
attempt.
They
looked
at
Nandita's
film
as
a
work
of
great
wisdom
and
experience…that's
how
good
her
debut
is."
The
other
'India'
film
that
Deepa
fell
in
love
with
is
Danny
Boyle's
Slumdog
Millionaire.
"It
takes
an
extraordinarily
compassionate
look
at
Mumbai.
Nobody
can
accuse
Danny
Boyle
of
being
patronizing
towards
the
city.
In
fact
the
Indian
films
this
year
went
beyond
cultural
paradigms."
Deepa's
own
Heaven
On
Earth
had
audiences
glued
to
their
seat
even
as
the
end-titles
rolled
by.
"Everyone
just
sat
in
their
seats
when
the
film
ended.
I
thought,
'Oh
oh
this
one
is
a
dud.'
But
when
we
got
a
ten-minute
standing
ovation
I
understood
the
18,000-strong
audience
didn't
move
because
they
were
so
moved.
I
think
Heaven
On
Earth
connects
even
better
with
an
international
audience
than
my
previous
Water
(which
was
short-listed
for
an
Oscar)
for
the
simple
reason
that
domestic
violence
has
more
universal
resonance
than
the
plight
of
widows."
Preity
Zinta
who
plays
the
battered
wife
in
Deepa's
film
was
clearly
the
queen
of
the
Toronto
festival.
Says
Deepa,
"She
scored
with
both
the
Indian
and
non-Indian
audience.
The
NRIs
were
floored
to
see
her
deglamorized
avatar
in
Heaven
On
Earth.
And
the
firangs
first
saw
her
as
this
scared-timid-withdrawn
abused
wife
and
then
at
the
Festival
dos
she
appeared
in
a
flaming-red
gown
as
the
chic
suave
diva-the
Preity
Zinta
that
Indian
audiences
know."
About
the
film's
language,
Deepa
is
nonchalant,
"Punjabi
is
as
Indian
as
Hindi
or
English.
In
fact
last
year
it
was
Rituparno
Ghosh's
The
Last
Lear
that
was
shown
at
the
Toronto
Film
Festival.
Though
I'll
dub
Heaven
on
Earth
in
Hindi
for
some
areas
in
India
on
the
producer's
insistence,
I
think
audiences
all
over
the
world
would
read
the
Punjabi
characters
in
Heaven
On
Earth
without
prejudice,
just
as
Priyadarshan's
Kanjeevaram
was
appreciated
in
the
Tamil
language."
The
film
of
the
Toronto
Festival
is
Priyadarshan's
lyrical
painting-in-motion
Kanjeevaram.
Deepa
can't
stop
raving
about
Priyan's
paean
to
the
saree
weavers
of
Kanjeevaram
"It
is
such
a
powerful
document
on
human
resilience.
Every
frame
is
as
intricately
woven
as
one
of
those
sarees
that
the
Kanjeevaram
weavers
pore
over
for
months
and
months.
I
had
seen
only
one
film
Viraasat
by
Priyan
earlier.
I
was
completely
floored
by
Kanjeevaram.
It's
one
of
the
best
films
to
come
out
of
India
in
recent
times." Ironically,
the
Toronto
Film
Festival
this
year
was
the
first
festival
that
Priyadarshan
ever
attended.
Laughs
Deepa,
"Maybe
the
Indian
presence
at
international
festivals
has
begun
to
make
some
sense
now."
Story first published: Friday, September 26, 2008, 15:45 [IST]