Deepa Mehta in great company

2007-02-15 12:15:59 Source : Moneycontrol.com

Deepa Mehta, director of Water, the film in the running for an Oscar this year in the Foreign Language Film category, is flying high and logging miles. Her schedule in the past week has included Toronto, Los Angeles and New York. Now she's on her way to India, where Water is set to release on February 23. And her much talked about project 'Exclusion', based on the Kamagata Maru incident, (where a boatload Asians were turned back by Canada in 1914) is now on hold for another film offered to her by Focus Features, the studio that made Brokeback Mountain.

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Tentatively titled Julia Project, the film is a drama based on the true story of an American woman who married a Korean prince, and will start shooting later this year. In an exclusive interview with Anirudh Bhattacharyya in New York, Mehta spoke about bringing Water to India, pre-Oscar jitters and her next film.

Q: You're going to India this week. What exactly is the purpose of the visit?

A: What it's been like in every country - to do press and publicity. So, I'll be there for two days doing press for Water with John (Abraham) and Seema Biswas.

Q: There have been protests in India about the possibility of Water releasing there. How do you react to that? What are you planning to do about that?

A: I'm not planning to do anything. You know, I think it's sad but if there are protestors, there are also a lot of people looking forward to Water, and I like to really focus on the positive.

Q: The positive here is that now that you're focused on Water releasing in India, it gives you less time to feel butterflies in your stomach, about the actual ceremony.

A: I don't have butterflies about the ceremony at all because I feel that for me to even get just the nomination and to be in such fabulous company, because the films this year are just fabulous, is an honour enough.

Q: Your next film was to be on the Kamagata Maru incident. How's that progressing? Has Amitabh Bachchan come on board?

A: I've had to postpone it because I'm doing another film in between Exclusion and Kamagata Maru.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the film…

A: It's a film called the Julia Project and it's set in Manhattan and in Korea in the late 1950s. It's a project for Focus Features and I'm really excited about it.