Of curiosity and colours

For filmmaker Deepa Mehta, age doesn’t dent curiosity and colours don’t alter reality

- Anand Holla

Of late, cinephiles around the world seem to have rediscovered the beauty and depth of Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta's bold body of work.

Recently, Mehta became the first woman to receive the Cinema Honorary Award at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). It’s the highest accolade that recognises filmmakers who have made exceptional contributions to Asian cinema. The Free Press Journal caught up with Mehta in Singapore on the sidelines of the festival.

Excerpts from the interview:

You have been making films for around 35 years. When you see film festivals holding a retrospective of your films, like here at SGIFF, what feelings do they bring out in you?

Last April, they held a retrospective of my films at the Toronto International Film Festival. I hadn't seen some of those films in a long time, like Midnight's Children, or my favourite, Heaven on Earth. I was really surprised to see a young and diverse audience. I thought it would be mostly people of my generation and perhaps all white because since the ‘90s, I've been used to mostly white people coming to see my films. I have never been to a screening of my own films in India because I don’t think they were ever screened. Fire was screened but they burned the theatres. Water wasnt screened nor was Earth. So it was fabulous for me to see such an audience in Toronto, a multicultural city — or here in Singapore. The way my films have been embraced by Indians everywhere means a lot to me because I am Indian.

The empathy that you are able to evoke in your films, it seems to come largely from your interest in the ‘other’. So what about the other organically draws you to it?