The status of widows in India is really very pathetic. We might not be sending them anymore to ashrams but they definitely are not treated like in anyother country. Even today if a widow remarries (except in the case of maybe upper class societies) she is looked down as if she has low moral values, etc. When would our common man who sees a widower remarrying as natural and infact essential start seing the widow remarriage also in the same light, I really donot know. The pathetic status is such that we donot want our widows to marry (we act like moral police while condemning them) and also the society fails to protect the widows at the same time. Why is a woman always have to be a victim of any circumstance which is beyond control? Why is that something which is veryy right for a man is wrong for a woman?
RE:The staus of widows
by shikha dhar on Mar 10, 2007 12:48 PM
I strongly agree with u . Its been in our culture for so long and things have changed but not the way it should be.
RE:The staus of widows
by pramod nair on Mar 11, 2007 08:51 PM
Mahalakshmi samy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! India's is not just made of pattars aka tambrams like you .There are many indian communities like Nairs,tulus etc who have always respected and paid adequate importance to women.Deepa mehta's water happened in some pockets of north india and south indian brahmins and doesnt not represent the whole of India.Enjoy the movie and forget it.
RE:RE:The staus of widows
by sankar on Mar 12, 2007 12:49 PM
Huh..only in north n south...??dis was a hugely practised culture in west bengal..Guyz..please read Indian history n then discuss..
Its interesting to see Deepa Mehtas film getting nominated for Oscar. The story is based on torchers faced by Hindo widows in 1938. Deepa Mehta has took an initiative to run this film really. But now I wanaa know ,the way she has touched Hindu Society's ,Can she touch in similiar way about other soceity.Can she project bad practices in other society too. I am not being theocratic here. But if you try to project from a particular society in a film to bag an Oscar, then I feel there has to be justice by treating other Society's too.
RE:Does Water impress you
by Sachin H on Mar 10, 2007 02:30 AM
Thats a nice thought, the answer is NO WAY!! How can she take that risk? In our country, one can do or say absolutely anything against the majority and get away with it, but one would not dare to do it against the minority. This minority appeasement is not limited to politicans alone.
RE:RE:Does Water impress you
by Sreenivas Palle on Mar 10, 2007 03:31 AM
We need to be more open minded. It is a greatest cinematic expression, no matter it was negetive or positive no matter it was against our society or against some body else's. It was painstakingly real. There were movies like To kill a mocking bird which could be interpreted like a this anti-society, but these are beautiful cinematic expression. Enjoy rather drawing lines
RE:RE:RE:Does Water impress you
by Dinesh Pal on Mar 10, 2007 01:31 PM
i do agree nobody makes films on minority even if the women in that society is treated in bad manner that what is shown in water. but who will bell the cat. there are few iranian film makers who have touched this subject. maybe somebody should take this issue in india as well a beginging got to be made somewhere.
RE:RE:Does Water impress you
by Human Mind on Mar 10, 2007 03:28 AM
Is it... Please get your facts right .. We all know what hardships Deepa Mehta had to go through to make this film.. Originally the film was planned in 2000 and was o be shot in Varanasi .. but inspite of the Govt allowing he film to be made, the local goons, politicians and Hindu fanatics never allowed that .. You know how much losses the crew had to incur ... The film was finally shot years later in Sri Lanka .. And only becuase it has got so much recognition and Oscar nomination, Indians are getting to see it in the theatres in India .. otherwise it would never have been released .. Please think before you speak
RE:RE:RE:Does Water impress you
by Sachin H on Mar 10, 2007 06:36 AM
ok agreed! The movie did face some hardships during its making, and rightly so. But nevertheless, its complete now and its out there. But one can not even think of doing the same as far as the minority is concerned. The thought would be depressed much before it arises. And its all thanks to the so called "open minded" people like you for whom the voice against the majority is like a revolution, whereas the same against the minority would be downright outrageous.
RE:Does Water impress you
by on Nov 24, 2007 08:27 AM
Come on guys, Deepa made this film because she is a hindu and she knows the effects better and was personally and passionately attached to the story as steven speilburg shot schindlers list about the killings of the jews by germans! Speilburgh made that movie because it was important to him and he was passionate about it as he was a jew. Taslima nasrean wrote about the hardships she underwent as a muslim child brought up in bangladesh ( these muslim fundemaentalists asked why she's not pointing out the mistakes done by other religions).
why do you think that woman DOES NOT have the right to make a film that has a influence on her?????
no it is not us who are pathetic. it is the reviewer. can't we expect someone who is professional. last time when raja sen was reviewing a tamil movie aparajit he started off with saying that he does not like south indian food and other degratory stuff. all he had to do was review the movie. it is not just rediff. Once i was watching channel V and the contestant was making fun of south indian movies in a very insulting manner.. Aamir khan in his movie Ghulam shouts at one black looking man chup be madarasi!!! Has it ever occured to anybody that we might feel offended. The irony is aamir is now married to a south indian woman!! i don't mind people making fun of accents. I know the humour in india is all about speaking in accents. But atleast written media can be more respectful.
RE:sneha
by Kavita on Mar 10, 2007 05:13 PM
making fun of south indians or SI movies is easy for them, but how many of them realize that most movies that u watch are remakes or dubbing of tamil or malayalam movies. malayalam movies r so natural and real to watch unlike hindi movies which exist on masala and nasal singers. 90% of all hindi movies r remakes of SI movies, so plz stop looking down on us. we are proud to be a south indian.
RE:sneha
by on Nov 24, 2007 08:34 AM
Hey guys, I am from madras and how do u expect me to be called -----
"madrasi"
I DON'T TAKE IT IN A DEROGRATORY TERM.
If I call some one from Delhi "Delhiwalla" is it derogratory???
A joke is a joke, take a movie as a movie. A movie stops with what the heck the director wants to say. I am amazed with people who think that amir khan says that, its the director of the movie makes an ACTOR to act to create a funny sequence.
RE:sneha
by Shruti on Mar 10, 2007 12:03 PM
yep i think we indians got to improve in that. its s india that has done the country proud internationally more than any other part of india. Right from narayan murthy to indra nooyi...
RE:sneha
by roshan on Mar 10, 2007 12:22 PM
good point. and making fun of south Indians and their accents is another way of saying racism is far much deep rooted in India than anywhere else in the world. it is even evident in the way media presents the news, as if south Indians are some tribes living in a jungle.
I have both south and north Indian roots.. I don't have funny accents, but still I have had many experiences when people asked me if I am a madrasi, because my skin is dark. I perfectly understand this, and most of the times ignore the question, silently laughing at their ignorance.
Now, if Raja Sen or the entire rediff is still reluctant to admit the existence or rather success of Indians living other parts, its their problem. But i am at least able to tell that things are changing, for god's sake. its not like how it was some years ago. so, hope is still there :)
RE:RE:sneha
by Dinesh Pal on Mar 10, 2007 01:37 PM
this is problem is there in all civilizations & countries. If aamir khan shouts madrasi it means that this guy is an south indian. It should not be taken in bad way but sportingly. Many people have made jokes and represented north indians nepalis and many other communities this way. but if it is a joke it is ajoke
i think what the reviewer meant by saying that some people look like south indians is that this movie was made in srilanka with a lot of native srilankan people (thanks to our indian government)so they did not look like people from varanasi,instead looked like people from srilanka (who in turn resemble south indians)
i think you people should read the lines carefully before going off on reviewers for each and every comment...true the reviewers need to be careful but hey who doesn't make mistakes..don't you??its pathetic to see people going off on the reviewers at every given chance.
RE:sneha
by Suresh Kumar on Mar 10, 2007 01:08 AM
People on the blog will be all kinds of personalities. But as a reviewer or a critic is suppose to write correctly because it goes to public. I am not blaming the reviewer I am blaming the whole team who writes, people who does the check and the editors and as a whole the REDIFF team. They are not writing any blogs to just write rubbish, it is journalism which is suppose to be correct and unoffending.
Mr Suparn Verma in your article you mentioned "There are times when you can make out this isn't India, with a few supporting cast members looking decidedly south Indian, not from Varanasi"
Mr. Verma, do you know how to see the atlas or map.
South India means south part of India. May be you would have mistaken as a seperate country like South Korea which is seperate from North Korea.
I seriously doubt your knowledge of geography. I think you should have got zero marks in the subject.
I know, any Tom, Dick and Harry can write rubbish things. But how come Rediff is publishing this kind of Junk article.
I thought of scolding you Mr. Suparn Verma with all kind of dirty American Slang Gaalis. I am sparing you this time. If I have enough free time to write the next one will surely be all kind of Gaalis you wouldnt have heard in your life.
There are times when you can make out this isn't India, with a few supporting cast members looking decidedly south Indian, not from Varanasi. -----------------------
i never knew south india was'nt india..why do you poeple always alienate us. okay some tamilians don't speak hindi. does that make them non-indians.. how can a educated reviwer make a careless statement like this.. all she needed to say was it doesn't seem like north india. forgive me that i had to write this but these days after reading all the messages against each community i have bcome highly sensitive.. in USA i meet bengalis, marathis gujratis, biharis even punjabis who look decidedly south indian. when will bollywood stop showing greek looking people as indians.
RE:dejected
by abhishek dwivedi on Mar 09, 2007 10:28 PM
Yess...its bad...people always find reason to create smaller group.In a religion they create smaller group on the basis of caste then in one catse on the basis of diff titles.In country on the bisis of states, then in states on the basis of regions.If nothing works then on the basis of language or on the basis of sub-languages(diff versions,but almost same, of one language).And the worst part of this grouping is that they start disliking each other.If one speaks Tamil, he need not to dislike Hindi or Bengali.Hindi speaking need not dislike Kananad or Malayalam.
RE:dejected
by murali vaddi on Mar 09, 2007 11:45 PM
hey kool it buddy. Water was shot in Sri Lanka. Thats what the writer means when she says that we can make out its not India.
RE:RE:RE:RE:dejected
by Sanjay Chavan on Mar 10, 2007 12:07 PM
Guys, we dont need the brits anymore for breaking us up...we can do that by ourselves thank you...My suggestion is that we can do that on Caste (SC ST), Religion (Hindu Muslim etc), Location (North South), or any other way manner or form...It would be the best tribute we could offer to our freedom fighters and our Soldiers who laid their lives for our Country without asking such questions as to who they were dying for. What a waste isn't it??...Keep it up guys !!
RE:dejected
by sumit kain on Mar 09, 2007 10:30 PM
Yes Garisa, I agree. This is a mistake on the part of the writer's that he coulddn't put words in the right manner, who clearly didn't mean that South Indians aren't Indians. They're very much part of the nation and a very strong one at that. I'm from Delhi and have great regards fr South Indians. In the review, its just an innocent mistake. The reviewer intended to say tht the people shown were supposed to look like UPiites but appear to be of Dravidian race. I still feel sorry!!
I disagree with the wirter at few points...the status of widows r not as bad as projected in this review.i wont complain to movie coz its showing the times of 1930s.At tat time it was bad.Widow re-marriage is defenetly not a big deal any more.Yes..defenetly...widows has a poorer status in society than other women but re-married women dont have any such low.So we r progressing. It takes centuries for a strong culture as Indian, to get curropted.And its takes years to reform it.My dear friend, a culture as old and Indian is bound to have malpractices creeped in.Tell me a culture which is not flawed. But the best things is that its our own men who work for its betterment.Here history can help you in finding lot of such names, events and movements.
looks like a good movie........ would have appreciated it if made by some other directors like shekhar kapur... but why deepa mehta always sees the dark side of indian culture....... she has some psychological disorders.....
