Deepa Mehta Meets Basu to discuss shooting of Water Haldia The making of history Polls CPI(M) wrests two seats

Filmmaker Deepa Mehta came to Calcutta over the weekend to scout for locales for her film Water which had faced rough protests from the Sangh Parivar in Varanasi and sets of which had been vandalised. The chief minister Jyoti Basu and his deputy Buddhadev Bhattacharya gave the filmmaker a warm welcome and assured her of all protection and security during the shooting if she chooses to film Water in Calcutta. Mehta has described the state government’s cooperation as heartening and added that she will be back in 10 days to finalise the proposal and start shooting.

On the other hand, the Congress too has joined in the rat race, so to say, to outdo the BJP in terms of encroachment in the realms of art and has now targetted Kamal Haasan’s Hey ram for its protests, saying that the film projects Gandhiji in a poor light and that some sex scenes are too explicit and that too, with Jibananada Das’ Rupashi Bangla being recited in the background. Film posters have been torn and cinema halls have been attacked with one theatre owner actually giving in to the terror by withdrawing the film.Naturally, the state government has strongly denounced the action of the Congress and steps are being taken to ensure smooth running of the film in all city centres.