Oh dear! Deepa Metha once again storms into town with a social/ political drama about Hindu widows forced to live as outcasts of society. The thing that struck me the most was the beautiful cinematography and the thing that completely struck me down was the theme music, which bears a strong resemblance to the theme music from Titanic!

The story is set in 1938, when Indian women were bound by rules and traditions, and they lived for everyone but themselves. Although Water does depict the social status of Hindu widows honestly, I felt that the relationships between the women in the ashram was not explored enough. The story's progression seemed forced and unnatural. The love story was a total bust and its climax was completely anti-climatic for me. I don't think that Lisa Ray and John Abraham were strong enough as actors to play such complex roles. I wanted to see more truth in their performances as I felt they were portraying a facade and not real people.

She almost had it with this film; it could have been so much more! But due to lack-luster performances, and a theme song that kept reminding me of James Cameron's record-breaking film, the truth of the story was lost. I will end on a positive note by saying that the film ends with the most striking image of Shakuntala (Seema Biswas).

Water is currently playing in theatres around Toronto.
Photo courtesy www.imdb.com