Trouble at home

Deepa Mehta on Heaven on Earth, her
brave film about an Indian immigrant woman
and her struggle with domestic abuse

ESCAPING ISOLATION: Heaven on Earth

by MATTHEW HAYS

Deepa Mehta’s latest feature suggests a new level of confidence in the filmmaker. Of course, she’s never shied away from taking on risky topics—Water (2005) was suspended due to protests by religious fanatics (the sets were entirely destroyed, and Mehta was forced to relocate the whole shoot).

But Heaven on Earth takes on a difficult subject—an Indian immigrant woman’s struggle to fend off the harsh physical abuse of her arranged-marriage husband—and gives it a fascinating, strange and unexpected twist. It’s the kind of filmmaking those of us tired with cinematic routine will no doubt find tremendously pleasing. Mehta was basking in the glow of many of the warm reviews she was getting at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Heaven on Earth had its premiere.

Mehta says she was first intrigued by the idea of exploring domestic violence after reading Roddy Doyle’s fifth novel, The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. “That, of course, was the Irish working-class version,” she says now. “I wanted to approach it from a different direction. But it inspired me.”

NOT RISK-AVERSE: Mehta

As well, Mehta came across the story of one Edmonton woman who arrived from India after entering into a seemingly ideal arranged marriage. Her husband then began beating her brutally. “There was nowhere for this woman to go. The police often think of these immigrant communities as self-contained, and the isolation for women in these situations is just horrific. But she did escape, and I love her story—because she was so affected by what happened, she joined the police force so she could be there for other women.”

In Mehta’s fiction, a beautiful young woman (played by Bollywood star Preity Zinta) enjoys a beautiful, colourful wedding ceremony in her native India. She marries the handsome, seemingly reliable Vansh Bhardwaj, but all is not as it seems. She is soon shunted to Brampton, Ontario, where Bhardwaj’s sweet nature turns to physical violence. Zinta’s work life ain’t much better: she’s stuck in a dismal factory job. Not surprisingly, serious unhappiness sets in.

But here’s where Mehta takes a shift into challenging turf: Zinta finds a friend in one of her factory co-workers, who schools her on how to cast a spell on hubby so he’ll stop abusing her once and for all. It’s a strange conceit and, given Mehta’s down-to-earth realism up until this point, the audience is lulled into believing the spell will simply backfire—and result in another beating. But Mehta then delves into a strain of magical realism, allowing her to shift between the brutal reality of Zinta’s dilemma, while introducing a snake that provides her husband with a cooler, calmer alter-ego.

Enough is enough

“I didn’t want Jennifer Lopez putting on boxing gloves the way she did in Enough,” Mehta says, laughing. “That was enough too. So many of the films about domestic violence are just far, far too obvious. I didn’t want to go there.” Another influence for Mehta was Indian playwright Girish Karnad’s Nagmandala, which also dealt with an escape from reality. “That play was about the question: Since reality is so difficult, can you conjure up your own world?”

As well as her stylistic flourish, Mehta gets top marks for her casting. Balinder Johal plays the mother-in-law from hell, while Zinta, unknown on this continent but a huge star in India, is simply superb as the woman struggling to overcome her devastating home life. And Bhardwaj’s performance is as noteworthy for its intense power as it is for the very fact that it’s his first acting gig. “When I met with Zinta, she immediately began discussing the issues in the film,” Mehta recalls. “I could see her passion for the topic and for the script. I got a sense she’d be perfect. The problem was, with her Bollywood shooting schedule, I was unclear how we’d fit her in. They never stop shooting there, making several movies a year. But she was so eager to take the role, she made time in her schedule to be able to take it on.”

Mehta concedes she was concerned about how the Indo-Canadian community would take to Heaven on Earth. The film addresses several touchy subjects, including arranged marriages and the secrecy surrounding domestic violence. “But the response has been incredible. The comments at the screenings are great. People realize this is a film about a universal issue, not something that’s restricted to one group of people.”

HEAVEN ON EARTH OPENS THIS
FRIDAY, OCT. 31