Canada's Entry to OSCARS- Mehta's WATER

Will 'Water' net the Oscar?

Even if India does not officially make it to the short list of five nominations in the foreign language film category at next year's Oscar, scheduled for late February 2007, chances are that a filmmaker of sub-continental origin might find her name in the list.

Deepa Mehta's art house success, 'Water,' which had a strong run in the North American circuit earlier this year, has been nominated by Canada as its official entry for the Oscars.

The Hindi-language film, which homes in on a community of widows in pre-Independence India, is a full fledged Canadian production, but given its theme, the nationality of its cast members and the origins of its director, it might have qualified to represent India in the Academy Awards race.

But for that to have happened, 'Water' needed to get past the Central Board of Film Certification and into the metropolitan multiplexes in India. Now that it hasn't, India's loss could well turn out to be Canada's gain on Oscar night.

'Water' has obviously benefited from a crucial change in the rule book that was introduced after Asif Kapadia's critically acclaimed 'The Warrior' was disqualified as Britain's official Oscar entry in 2003 on grounds that the film had been made in a language (Hindi) that was "not indigenous to the UK."

The Academy had argued then that Kapadia's film might have made the cut, had it been set among Britain's Hindi-speaking Indian community, instead of being what it was – an epic drama located in mythic space.

But all said and done, Canada's nomination of 'Water' for the Oscars is a happy augury for Indian cinema, as Deepa Mehta is after all an Indian, a globally recognised filmmaker, whose sensibilities and training are very much grounded in the creative and cultural ethos of the sub-continent.

'Water,' which was the opening night film of the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, is the sort of well-crafted humanist drama that has the innate potential to appeal to the nearly 5,000 members of the Academy, on whose vote its eventual fate would rest. The film blends cultural authenticity, social protest, skilled storytelling and a universal narrative idiom in a way that elevates it to a level that is well above the ordinary.

But how far 'Water' can flow in the run-up to the Academy Awards will obviously depend on the competition. Offhand, two Spanish films, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar's 'Volver' and Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 'Babel,' are expected to be the frontrunners this year.

These two titles justifiably have admirers all around the globe, while 'Water' hasn't even seen the light of day where it should have as a matter of right – India.

But underdogs are often known to sneak in ahead of more fancied entries, when the Academy members get down to vote. In any case, 'Water' has much going for it as a cinematic work of substance. It's a neat, nifty film that taps into the considerable emotional force of its urgent thematic concerns, while tempering it with a wonderfully apt air of artistic detachment.

So don't be surprised if Deepa Mehta and 'Water' are still in the frame when the envelope is opened on the night that matters.