WATER- Deepa Mehta

Water is set during the period of the British Raj or British Indian Empire in the year 1938, when India was still under colonial rule by the British. Following Hindu tradition during that period, the marriage of young girls to older men was commonplace in certain parts of India. When a man hailing from an orthodox Hindu family died, his young widow would be forced to spend the rest of her life in an institution for widows called a widow's ashram in order to make amends for the sins from her previous life which supposedly caused her husband's death.

Chuyia (Sarala Kariyawasam) is an eight year old girl who has just lost her husband. She is deposited in the ashram for Hindu widows to spend the rest of her life in renunciation. There are fourteen women who live in the small, dilapidated two-story house built around a central courtyard. The women are sent here to expiate bad karma, as well as to relieve their families of financial and emotional burdens. The ashram is ruled by Madhumati (Manorama), a fat and pompous lady in her 70s. Her only friend is the pimp, Gulabi (Raghuvir Yadav), a sprightly hijra (eunuch) and also a transvestite, who not only keeps Madhumati supplied with ganja, but also with the latest gossip. The two also have a side business; Gulabi helps Madhumati to prostitute Kalyani (Lisa Ray), the now second youngest of the widows, by taking her across the water to the customers. Kalyani was forced into prostitution as a child to support the ashram. She is valued for her beauty, and is the only widow whose hair is not shorn.

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