“Videsh is a celebration of imagination” - Deepa Mehta

Heralded as the most imaginative director working on social issues surrounding the women of today, yesterday and tomorrow, Deepa Mehta is the creative mastermind behind films such as Fire, Earth and Water to name a few. Her films are known to create pandemonium amongst the politically incorrect society of today but her latest film Heaven On Earth KA Videsh has brought the politically correct society to stand up and not only notice this extraordinary piece of story telling but also recognise it. How?

Well, Preity Zinta won the Best Actress award at the prestigious Chicago Film Festival last year and is now nominated along side Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon at this year's Genie Awards to take place in Canada in April. Now with so much surrounding the film, Deepa should have gone all pink, but instead, the talented Mehta goes all purple. Believe it or not, the Holi colour isn't just coming off her face. "My friends have painted my face all purple and I am scared to get out of my hotel room and attend press conferences", she said.

Exclusively speaking with our correspondent, the affable, confident and dynamic Deepa lets her demons out in this exclusive interview where she reveals of her inspiration to make films, her aspirations to work with Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee, her next film with Akshay Kumar, her new find in Videsh, Vansh Bhardwaj, her coming together with the Oscar winner A.R Rahman and why she can deal with the authenticity of India far better than the West.

Under what name is your film releasing across the globe besides India?
Across India, the film will be released with the name Videsh and in the rest of the world as Heaven On Earth.

With a story so strong and its message out loud and clear, do you think a change in the name of a film really matters when it's speaking of a universal subject?
I am not the distributor of the film, I am a filmmaker. If the distributor knows that the change in the name is helping the Indian audiences, I will listen to them because that's not my expertise.

Jag Mundhra had shown some startling issues surrounding a Punjabi woman's plight in his film Provoked. Are we going to see your woman, Preity Zinta, going through the same torment in Videsh?
I must say that Heaven on Earth or Videsh is very different from Provoked. It's like what Shakespeare said - There are three stories in the world and its how you tell them that makes one different from the other. Yes, this story is partly about domestic abuse, but for me, the film is about the power of imagination. When reality becomes so grim, how can you use your imagination to liberate yourself? That is what the film is about. The milieu is of course the isolation of the first generation working class immigrant, whether they are in the U.S, the U.K, Australia or in this case Canada because it's the first generation that suffers the most.

Films are tagged as commercial, art house and world cinema. What tag fits the kind of films you make or have made over the years?
This is so bizarre (laughs). I don't think I fit any of them. I just write and tell stories. Only when a film is very particular, that's the very minute it starts becoming universal. I hope my films are universal.

Let's talk about the word 'universal' then. How universally inspired you get to tell stories every time you make them?
I am attracted to stories; I don't sit down and say - What is going to be my next film and what its issues are. If the story is generally about a subject that I wish to know more about or I don't know so much about, I get glued on to it. For example, it was the sectarian war in my film Earth which really intrigued me at that point in time; also, Rwanda was going on at that time. I just couldn't understand the whole concept of sectarian war. I wanted to explore it further and that's why I did Earth. I used religion to cover up the marginalisation of certain sections of the society, it's a misuse of religion by society and that's how Water came around. Heaven On Earth has a lot to do with and understand the word 'abuse' in a larger canvas. It just doesn't come out of nowhere. Everybody is a victim, even the abuser. The point is there is no black and white. That's what motivated me to do Videsh. It's not about issues but wanting to know more about something.

Let's talk about your new find - Vansh Bhardwaj. Tell us a bit more about this talent.
He is amazing. It's his first film. He was a lead in the play I saw, a play by Neelam Maan Singh Chowdhary. He did Girish Karnad's Naag Mandala. I was so blown away by the play that I used it in the film too with Girish's blessings. I think the theatre actors have a lot of depth and discipline. I asked Vansh if he wanted to be a part of my film and he readily agreed, and you put him with a star like Preity Zinta, nothing beats it. I must say, Preity was very generous to Vansh.

The Best Actress at the Chicago Film Festival 2008 - Preity Zinta! Will she be able to surpass the best?
(Laughs) I think it'll be really immodest if I said that this isn't her best performance to date and the other directors won't like me too much. But I think she is superb in the film and personally, it's a world class performance.

Preity is also nominated under the Best Actress at the Genie Awards 2009 along with top international celebs, right?
Yes, you're right. She is nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role along with Susan Sarandon. The awards are to take place next month in April.

Do you agree that it rightly takes a director to suck out the best of the hidden talent from an actor in order for them to win an award on a global platform? And why can't other directors do the same?
I think it's the work. It's not necessary that a director is very important. I can never forget Cher in the lovely movie Moonstruck. What a wonderful performance. Everybody was shocked that she could act like that. She also won an Academy Award for the Best Actress for Moonstruck and she went up on the stage and said, "I would like to thank my hair dresser". She didn't thank the director. It was a bit weird but what I'm trying to say is that, generally, good directors really take out wonderful performances. But for a film to do well, it isn't the director alone. It has to start from the script.

What other films are you working on?
I'm working on two films currently. One is a film called Exclusion with Akshay Kumar and the other is based on Sulman Rushdie's book called The Midnights Children.

Any filmmaker likes commercial and critical acclaim. Are you content or hungry for more?
The day I get content, I will stop making films. Contentment makes you lazy and gives you a false sense of security. If you want to make films, you need to be hungry for more.

In your future projects, would you like to work with actors of your past films like Aamir, John, etc?
I can't think of any right now. But I am really looking forward to be working with Akshay Kumar in my next film. I hope one day comes when I work with Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.

You're a Canadian citizen. Don't you get impressed with stories from the West as well?
Yeah, some of them. I just feel that I can deal with the authenticity of India and the Indians far better. It's not that I haven't done anything in the West. I have. I think to get into the western mind sets is difficult for me, not impossible, but it's not entirely satisfactory.

What is it that you're trying to say with Heaven On Earth?
That you can't be simplistic about it. It's out dated now that the West has a lot to offer than India. So if anybody would be able to revisit the fact that perhaps, they should not be so ready to leave home. As the character says in the film - Sometimes it's better to live in Hell than in Heaven where there is more self dignity.

How did you celebrate Holi?
I've got a lot of purple colour on my face from which I can't get out. It's scary because I have to attend the Press conference for the film too. I had great fun with friends and we celebrated the festival of colours with a lot of rang.

You've worked with the music director A.R. Rahman before. But how about working with the Oscar winner now?
(Laughs) Yes, A.R did the music for Fire, Earth and Water. I'd love to work with the Oscar winner now, you're right (laughs). He definitely deserved an Oscar. But we should never ever forget that he has always been a brilliant music director and just because the West has recognised him doesn't mean that he is more recognised now.

Sum up your film Videsh in one word please.
Videsh is a celebration of the imagination.