Deepa Mehta and Lisa Ray: on Water and women shaping the narrative

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story still matters.

 

Critics’ Choice

Deepa Mehta and Lisa Ray reflect on what it meant to commit fully to a story about women on the margins and why the film continues to move audiences around the world. As Lisa Ray puts it, it was made with such sincerity that people could feel it — “it was the little indie film that could.”

 

Close-Up:

Deepa described making Water without an agenda; Lisa described surrendering to the role rather than performing it. Here, they focus on the process — how the film was made, the close-knit community that formed around it, and what it felt like to work in a simpler time, when no one retreated to their trailer between takes.

 

The Edit

This conversation moves across memory, politics, identity, and time with two of the most influential women in Indian cinema thinking aloud together.

 

Epilogue

Twenty years on, Water is no longer met with outrage or political defence. As Deepa puts it, it feels like a truth that never dies, it’s still finding new audiences, still landing where it needs to.

 

Featured Clips in this episode:

79th Academy Award Nominations

 

Credits: 

 

Host: Mallika Kapur

 

Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.

 

Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn

 

This is a Maed In India Production

 

Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas

Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome

Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni

Producer: Rachna Sukuru

Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar

Artwork: Alika Gupta