The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social restrictions imposed on widows, and a man who is from the highest caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
Director: Deepa Mehta
Writers: Anurag Kashyap (dialogue), Deepa Mehta
Stars: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas
Story Line: A thesis picture. In 1938, Gandhi's party is making inroads in women's
rights. Chuyia, a child already married but living with her parents,
becomes a widow. By tradition, she is unceremoniously left at a bare and
impoverished widows' ashram, beside the Ganges during monsoon season.
The ashram's leader pimps out Kalyani, a young and beautiful widow, for
household funds. Narayan, a follower of Gandhi, falls in love with her.
Can she break with tradition and religious teaching to marry him? The
ashram's moral center is Shakuntala, deeply religious but conflicted
about her fate. Can she protect Kalyani or Chuyia? Amid all this water,
is rebirth possible or does tradition drown all?
