Indian theatres to see spring release of Mehta's Water

Deepa Mehta's Oscar-nominated film Water is finally set to hit Indian theatres this spring, according to its Indian distributor.

According to Sanjay Bhutiani, business director of B.R. Films, Water will be released across India in March.

"I don't see the trouble last time repeating itself," Bhutiani said.

The Toronto-based Mehta originally attempted to film the predominantly Hindi-language Water — the final instalment of her elements trilogy —in the Indian holy city of Varanasi in 2000. However, Hindu fundamentalists angered by Mehta's previous films Fire and Earth violently forced the shutdown of the production. Mehta secretly began reshooting the film in Sri Lanka in 2004.

Set in India in the 1930s, amid the growing political uprising under Mahatma Gandhi, Water centres on an ashram, a colony where widows as young as eight years old are forced to live out their days in poverty.

The film has won acclaim around the world. It opened the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005 and has picked up a host of awards, including three Genies in Canada, first prize at the Bangkok Film Festival anda Freedom of Expression award from the U.S. National Board of Review.

Nominated in the best foreign film category for the Oscars next month, Water has also grossed about $10 million at the global box office.

Though Water screened at the International Film Festival of Kerala in 2005, it has yet to be released commercially in India.

B.R. Films had said last fall that the film would see an Indian release in January. Bhutiani attributed the delay tocontract and marketing issues.

"We need a month to market the movie and launch the music, since music is a big part of any film release in India," he said.

Water features songs created by popular Indian composer A. R. Rahman.