Mumbai, January 23
Deepa Mehta’s “Water”, the story about the plight of Hindu widows in the 1930s whose shooting in India had to be scrapped following protests from Sangh Parivar outfits, was today nominated for the Oscar award in the Best Foreign Film category.

The Canadian entry, starring John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, made it to the final five. Other entries in the category include “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Mexico), “After the Wedding” (Denmark) and German Cold War drama “The Lives of Others”.

“I am so thrilled with this news. This film has meant so much to me, we have seen so much, that to have it all end in such a way is best thing I could have asked for,” Deepa told PTI on the phone from her residence in Canada.

The movie is the last in Deepa’s trilogy, which include “Fire” and “Earth”. After cancelling the shooting in India, she completed the film in Sri Lanka.

“Water” had originally starred Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das and was scheduled to be shot in the holy city of Varanasi but was aborted after Bajrang Dal activists blocked its filming. — PTI