Deepa Mehta

Filmmaker Deepa Mehta is best known for her trilogy of films Fire, Earth and Water. Her work explores issues of cultural conflict and oppression and has been deeply controversial in India.

Born in Punjab in 1950, Mehta was raised in Delhi, where she earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Delhi. She began her career making documentaries in India, before moving to Canada in 1973 and working as a writer for documentaries and children’s films. Her feature debut, Sam and Me, which received an honourable mention at the Cannes Film Festival, followed the relationship between a young Indian immigrant and an elderly Jewish man in a Toronto neighbourhood.

All three films in her trilogy proved to be incendiary in India, and filming on Water had to be postponed for several years following protests and threats from Hindu extremist groups. In the interim, Mehta made Bollywood/Hollywood, a lighter treatment of intercultural issues that earned her a Genie for Best Original Screenplay.