I explored women in every situation: Deepa Mehta

New Delhi: Be it through the gruesome domestic violence in “Heaven on Earth” or by understanding the psyche of a same sex relationship in “Fire”, Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta feels she has explored women in every untouched situation.

The filmmaker, who is known for films like “Monsoon Wedding”, “Fire”, “Water” among others, said she relates to the issues she dealt in her movies.

“I love to deal with women. I have explored them in situations which might not be known or have explored in films be it domestic violence being faced by the immigrant women in Canada.

“Domestic violence knows no boundaries, class and religion. I explored them in every possible situation where I am uncomfortable at,” Deepa said while addressing a gathering at the “Women In The World” summit here.

Her 1996 controversial film “Fire” has recently cemented a place at the top 10 female content film by British Film Institute.

In India, the film didn’t have a successful run as it was pulled out of the theatres after a political party raised question on its controversial content.

Asked if she was aware whether the film will land her into a trouble, the director said, “It was my first realistic film. I might be lying if I say I was not anticipating any controversy but I am not a sucker for punishment.”

Deepa said the decision of passing the film without any cut by the censor board was a far thinking during 90s’ in India.

“It was a commendable job by the censor board of that time. It ran in the Indian theatres for a week. Overnight the Shiv Sena, a political party from Mumbai, started thrashing the film saying the film is against the Bharatya Sanskriti. And the cry was there are no lesbians in India,” she said.

But the NRI filmmaker said the mindset towards same sex in India has changed over the past two decade.