Editing Deepa Mehta (section)

== Themes ==
Many of Mehta's films across her career have focused on the duality of her national and cultural identity which has informed much of her filmmaking as she has been described as the "quintessential transnational filmmaker".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Gendered Screen: Canadian Women Filmmakers|last=Stojanova|first=Christina|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|year=2010|location=Waterloo|pages=217–232}}</ref> With her childhood and heritage informing her of key Indian and Hindu traditions, she has been seen to compare these practices with a more "Westernized" philosophy that has often resulted in controversy.<ref name=":2" /> The production of her film ''Water'' was delayed by protests from Hindu fundamentalists whilst several of her other films releases have seen boycotts across India, including the film ''Fire.''<ref name=":2" />

Mehta's [[Elements trilogy|''Elements'' trilogy]] notably explores themes of the emergence of new identities, particularly in the context of independence. In ''[[Fire (1996 film)|Fire]]'', the older character Radha's sense of agency and empowerment increases as she becomes sexually liberated through the younger character Sita.<ref name="Fire 1998">''Fire'', directed by Deepa Mehta (1996; Toronto, Canada: Zeitgeist Films, 1998), Stream.</ref> Professor Subeshini Moodley discusses how these women employ their bodies to cross boundaries & borders, stating how “their bodies being the marginal spaces that they occupy, these protagonists don’t always begin as women with agency, but grow and develop to that point. Their marginal spaces are first defined in order to show how they later redefine and transcend its boundaries”.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moodley|first=Subeshini|date=2003|title=Postcolonial Feminisms Speaking through an 'Accented' Cinema: The Construction of Indian Women in the Films of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4548098|journal=Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity|issue=58|pages=68|jstor=4548098|issn=1013-0950}}</ref> Put otherwise, by allowing themselves to explore their sexuality with each other, these women are breaking free of the restrictive confines of the traditional female Indian archetype that used to define their value (such as traits of virtue & obedience), and instead are reclaiming their power by transgressing the boundaries of their culture.<ref name="Fire 1998"/>

Another way in which ''Fire'' exemplifies the emergence of modern female identities is through its deliberate defiance of patriarchal structures through religious & cultural symbolism. The protagonists’ names of Radha and Sita are direct references to the heroines of the traditional Hindu epic, Ramayana, in which the characters Radha and Sita represent contrasting elements of feminine virtue; Radha embodying the playful adventuress and Sita being the dutiful and dedicated wife.<ref name="Burton 7">{{Cite journal|last=Burton|first=David|date=2 October 2013|title=Fire, Water and The Goddess: The Films of Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray as Critiques of Hindu Patriarchy|url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol17/iss2/3|journal=Journal of Religion & Film|volume=17|issue=2|pages=7|issn=1092-1311}}</ref> However, Mehta switches the defining characteristics of these characters for her film, making Radha the obedient matriarch and Sita the inquisitive newlywed. This is important to note when discussing a key scene in the film in which after Ashok learns of his wife’s affair with Sita, Radha’s sari catches fire from the kitchen stove and she nearly becomes engulfed in flames.<ref name="Fire 1998"/> This is a clear allusion to a sequence from the Ramayana in which Sita is forced to prove her purity for her husband Rama by walking through a fire.<ref name="Burton 7"/> Dr. David Burton discusses how Mehta’s film subverts the traditional symbolism of the religious epic through its reversed meaning; in Fire, Radha survives the fire not to represent her purity for her husband, but rather to “assert her freedom from patriarchal control and traditional notions of sexual purity”, once again conveying how the film effectively depicts the inception of modernity in the female realm.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burton|first=David|date=2 October 2013|title=Fire, Water and The Goddess: The Films of Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray as Critiques of Hindu Patriarchy|url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol17/iss2/3|journal=Journal of Religion & Film|volume=17|issue=2|pages=8|issn=1092-1311}}</ref>

As previously mentioned, Mehta based ''[[Earth (1998 film)|Earth]]'' on Pakistani author [[Bapsi Sidhwa|Bapsi Sidwha]]'s acclaimed 1988 novel ''[[Cracking India|Ice Candy Man]]'', which employs a young Parsi girl from a wealthy family as its protagonist.<ref name="Qureshi 81">{{Cite journal|last=Qureshi|first=Bilal|date=1 June 2017|title=ElsewhereThe Discomforting Legacy of Deepa Mehta's Earth|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/fq/article/70/4/77/110012/ElsewhereThe-Discomforting-Legacy-of-Deepa-Mehta-s|journal=Film Quarterly|language=en|volume=70|issue=4|pages=81|doi=10.1525/fq.2017.70.4.77|issn=0015-1386|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mehta's decision to maintain such a privileged protagonist is noteworthy; in one scene, Lenny’s mother attempts to explain to her daughter the role which Parsis play in the movement for India’s independence, in which she compares Parsis in India to sugar in milk: “sweet but invisible”.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Earth'', directed by Deepa Mehta (1999; Canada: Jhamu Sughand), Stream.</ref> While this takes on a negative connotation within the film, in a larger historical context, Lenny’s observation further supports Mehta’s decision to have the film’s protagonist taken on by a figure of such religious, cultural and ethnic ambivalence. The main goal of Lenny’s wealthy Parsi family is to stay neutral during the political tensions of Partition, and her astute renouncement of her family’s invisibility only reinforces this. Furthermore, “the fact that Lenny is neither Hindu nor Muslim [frees] the narrative from a divisive communal dichotomy”.<ref name="Qureshi 81"/> Lenny’s whole world is encompassed by her relationship with her Hindu nanny, her nanny’s adoration from two Muslim men, and their diverse friend group. When the conflict of Partition tears the group apart, Lenny’s whole world is simultaneously destroyed, and her humanist perspective allows for an unbiased portrayal of the negative effects which a fear of change and breaking tradition can inflict upon a society’s health.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Mehta's last film in the ''Elements'' trilogy, ''[[Water (2005 film)|Water]]'', showcases the gross oppression endured by Indian women during precolonial times. It also depicts the mistreatment of widows to present strong support for the breaking of traditional social norms and an embrace of contemporary identities for Indian women. One example of this can be seen through the Hindu male hegemony’s reliance upon the authority of Hindu scriptures to rationalize the mistreatment of widows.<ref name="Burton 3">{{Cite journal|last=Burton|first=David|date=2 October 2013|title=Fire, Water and The Goddess: The Films of Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray as Critiques of Hindu Patriarchy|url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol17/iss2/3|journal=Journal of Religion & Film|volume=17|issue=2|pages=3|issn=1092-1311}}</ref> In ''Water'', when Narayan’s father is revealed to be a former client of Kalyani, he attempts to justify his sexual exploits to his son by using his class privilege, stating that Brahmins can sleep with whomever they want as the women they sleep with are blessed.<ref>''Water'', directed by Deepa Mehta (2005; Canada: David Hamilton Productions), Stream.</ref> Narayan’s response that Brahmins who interpret the Holy Scripture for their own benefit should not be honored elucidates the immense hypocrisy which underlines various ancient religious ideologies that are often employed solely by the caste of men who seek to benefit from such outdated customs.<ref>Mathew P. John, ''Film as Cultural Artifact: Religious Criticism of World Cinema''. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017), 104.</ref> Burton also points out how such selfish reworkings of religious ideologies is the real killer of faith, instead of Mehta’s sensational films. He states, “Reformers… who often view the negative aspects of their religion as misreadings and cultural accretions are themselves in danger of essentializing Hinduism insofar as they imply that the version of Hinduism of which they approve is the only genuine one”.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Burton|first=David|date=2 October 2013|title=Fire, Water and The Goddess: The Films of Deepa Mehta and Satyajit Ray as Critiques of Hindu Patriarchy|url=https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol17/iss2/3|journal=Journal of Religion & Film|volume=17|issue=2|pages=10|issn=1092-1311}}</ref> In other words, the insistence to uphold such outdated structures of patriarchal hegemony simply on the basis of religiosity is in itself more blasphemous and sacrilegious than any sin outlined by ancient scriptures. However, there are certain elements of Water that allude to the positivity of embracing modernity. For example, Chuyia’s eventual rescue by Shakuntala and potentially happy future with Narayan presents the promise of Gandhi-influenced reform within Indian society.<ref name="Burton 3"/>

Mehta often uses her films to explore the impacts of cultural and political unrest on the lives of normal citizens, stating, "A driving force in the stories I want to tell is definitely curiosity. I was intrigued by sectarian war. I’m appalled by it. I was immensely curious about how it affects the everywoman and everyman."<ref name="Qureshi 80"/>