Deepa Mehta is an Indo-Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter and co-founder of Hamilton-Mehta Productions. Often referred to as a “transnational” artist, her films, often based on controversial topics, challenging conventions and stereotypes, are screened at nearly every international film festival.
Wiki/Biography
Deepa Mehta was born on Sunday, January 1, 1950, in Amritsar, Punjab, India (72 years old; as of 2022). She moved to Delhi with her family during her childhood. Later, she attended Welham Girls High School, a boarding school in Dehradun. Mehta went on to obtain a degree in Hindu philosophy from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. After graduation, Deepa shot some documentaries in India. After her marriage in 1970, she moved to Canada, where she settled with her husband, Paul Saltzman.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Deepa Mehta comes from a family with a background in the Indian film industry.
Parents and siblings
Her father Satwinder Mehta earned a living by being a film distributor while her mother Vimla was a homemaker. Her brother Dilip Mehta is an Indo-Canadian photojournalist best known for his five decades of reporting on the Bhopal gas tragedy. The brother and sister co-wrote the script for the Canadian light comedy film Cooking with Stella (2009).
Dilip Mehta, brother of Deepa Mehta
In an interview, while talking about her relationship with her cousin Ritu Kumar, a famous fashion designer, Deepa said:
When I was about two years old, she announced to my family that I looked like a doll and my nickname became “Dolly”! It’s so embarrassing to get rid of as we get older! ”
husband and children
In 1970, Deepa fell in love and married Paul Saltzman, a Canadian documentary filmmaker in India. Three years later, the couple moved to Toronto, Canada, where they welcomed their daughter, Devyani Saltzman, who grew up to become a famous writer and author. critic.
Deepa Mehta’s husband Paul Salzman
Deepa Mehta and daughter Devyani Saltzman
Mehta separated and divorced Paul in 1983, and she subsequently married Canadian film producer David Hamilton, who holds an MBA from Harvard University. He is also the co-founder of Hamilton-Mehta Productions.
Deepa Mehta and her husband David Hamilton
religious outlook
Deepa expressed her religious views on Hinduism in an interview, saying:
Hinduism did not begin as a religion. It started as a philosophy. It’s a way of life. Whether you go from Shankara-chariya to Ramanuja…charvaka school…yoga school or any other Hindu school of thought.Your chavakas are totally – their emergence is a reaction to Brahmanism [philosophy]. There has always been an opposition or a question mark and Hindu philosophy has always been a philosophy that questions itself and recognizes that it is only through change, through development, that a way of thinking, a way of thinking or a philosophy can flourish. That’s the beauty of Hinduism”
She further elaborated on extremism in all religions and quoted:
But then the extremists came in and that changed the perspective of people who believed in Hinduism and people who didn’t believe in Hinduism… from one of the most open-minded schools of thought, philosophy or religion in the world, to an extremist school. Suddenly, the BJP is on the right and the RSS is on the right. I think when extremist forces come in, whether it’s Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or now…even Buddhism, the first thing that happens is that interpretation of the idea or religion becomes law. It becomes exclusive, and that’s the danger. ”
Signature/Autograph
Profession
film producer
Deepa Mehta directed her first documentary, At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch, in 1975. Before directing the feature film Martha, Ruth and Edie (1988), she had directed numerous documentaries such as KYTES: How We Dream Ourselves (1986), Traveling Lightly (1986) and Saltzman Produced the CBC TV series Danger Bay (1984-90).
Film directed by Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta is known for her elemental trilogy Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005). The trilogy earned her critical acclaim but also hatred from extremists in India and around the world. The Elements Trilogy was far ahead of its time, depicting disturbing social realities such as a lesbian relationship between two married housewives (Fire) and the uprooting of a family during the Partition of India (Earth) , and the atrocities widows suffered as a result of the war. Socially conservative rituals and customs (water).
Some of the other notable productions she has directed include Bollywood/Hollywood (2002), Republic of Love (2003), Paradise on Earth (2008), Midnight’s Children (2012), Bee Boy (2015) , Anatomy of Violence (2016) and Funny Boy (2020). These included some episodes of the TV series Young Indiana Jones, which Star Wars director George Lucas asked him to direct. Talking about her career as a filmmaker, Mehta said:
I consider myself a very emotional filmmaker rather than an activist. “
production room
After completing his studies, Mehta started working in a production house in India. At the time of her marriage, she was making her first feature film about a child bride. Later, after settling in Canada, she founded a production company called Sunrise Films with her husband Paul and brother Dileep. Under this production company, they produced a number of documentaries, including a television series called Spread Your Wings (1977-79). She later became a co-founder of Hamilton-Mehta Productions, under which she produced some exemplary films such as KYTES: How We Dream of Ourselves (1986), Martha, Ruth & Edie (1988) and Sam and Me (1991). She also produced two of the three films in the critically acclaimed Elements trilogy, Fire (1996) and Earth (1998), for the production company.
dispute
- After the release of the film Fire, Deepa had to face the wrath of a section of society who were uncomfortable with the theme of a lesbian relationship in the film, and her effigies were subsequently burned and she was labeled anti-national . Additionally, the casting of her upcoming film is also under threat.
- Production of her film “Water” was delayed four years after extremists destroyed the set, issued death threats against her and the cast, took to the streets to riot and forced India to halt production of the film. Their traditional values are harmed. Eventually, the film was shot in Sri Lanka.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
violent anatomy
- 2016 Washington, DC South Asian Film Festival Outstanding Achievement in International Film Award
bee ba boy
- 2015 Toronto Film Critics Circle Award Clyde Gilmore Award
To the children of midnight
- 2013 Directors Guild of Canada Feature Film DGC Team Award
for heaven on earth
- Moore Asia-Africa Award: Best Screenplay Award at Dubai International Film Festival 2008
for water
- 2007 International Indian Film Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in International Film
- Silver Mirror Award – Best Feature Film, Oslo Film Festival 2006 South
- 2006 New York Film Critics Humanitarian Award
- 2006 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival Audience Award – Best Narrative Feature Film
- 2006 Taormina International Film Festival Art Award
- 2006 Canadian Film Best Director Award from the Vancouver Film Critics Association
- 2006 Society of Women Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film by a Female Director or About Women
- 2005 Toronto Women’s Eye Film Festival Honorary Director Award
- 2005 Valladolid International Film Festival Youth Jury Award
For Bollywood/Hollywood
- 2003 Directors Guild of Canada Feature Film DGC Team Award
- 2003 Genie Awards Best Original Screenplay
- 2003 Newport International Film Festival Student Jury Award
- 2003 Sarasota Film Festival Audience Award for Best Comedy
for fire protection
- Best Feature Film, Paris Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival 1997
- 1997 LA Outfest Best Narrative Feature Film
- Best Film at Verona Love Screen Film Festival 1997
- 1996 Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival Special Jury Prize
- The most popular Canadian film at the 1996 Vancouver International Film Festival
Miscellaneous Awards and Honors
- Oscar Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film (2007 Academy Awards)
- Honorary doctorates from five Canadian universities
- Named one of Canada’s 100 most powerful women (Executive Women’s Network, 2011)
- Top 25 Canadian Immigration Award Recipients (2009)
- 2011 Indian International Film Awards Global Leadership Award
- 2012 Governor General’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for the Performing Arts
- In 2013, he was awarded the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.
- Inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2016
- Toronto Canadian Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award (2019)
Deepa Mehta receives award at Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto on Sunday, March 31, 2019
Facts/Trivia
- Deepa grew up in Amritsar, India’s border region with Pakistan, and became fascinated by the story of India’s partition. Talking about the same thing, she said,
Even when I was growing up in Amritsar, we would go to Lahore every weekend, so people around me kept talking about it and feeling like it was one of the most horrific sectarian wars they had ever known. . “
- Apart from working as a film maker and producer, Deepa Mehta has also tried her hand at acting. She played Ranjeet Singh in the Reasonable Force episode of the Canadian television series For The Record (1983).
- She had guest roles in films like “Jurm” (1990) and “Aashiqui” (1990).
- A little-known fact about Deepa Mehta is that she made a special appearance in her most talked about film, Water (2005).
- When asked about her favorite character in the film Water, Mehta said:
In a movie? Shakuntala. ”
- She serves on the boards of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Toronto International Film Festival, and is a member of the Minister’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture (Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport).
- Deepa Mehta loves to enjoy alcoholic beverages on all occasions.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education