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Shooting of Deepa Mehta's Water suspended again

Suparn Verma and Sharat Pradhan

The Varanasi district administration has ordered filmmaker Deepa Mehta to suspend the shooting of her controversial movie, Water, in the ancient city.

The administration cited fears of a law-and-order crisis erupting in the city following a suicide attempt by a Shiv Sena activist.

The order came just a few hours after shooting began on Sunday afternoon. The notice to stop shooting was served by Additional District Magistrate N K Shahi.

District Magistrate Alok Kumar told rediff.com late in the night on telephone that he had warned Mehta not to go ahead with the shooting today because tempers were still running high in the city. But she ignored him and went ahead with her schedule according to which they proceeded to Bhadaini where several protesters had gathered and one person was even sitting on an indefinite fast.

Matters took a turn for the worse when, in a dramatic gesture, a Shiv Sena activist, Arun Pathak, tied a stone around his neck and jumped into the Ganga. He was rescued and rushed to hospital where his condition was stated to be critical.

Following this, the crowd became violent and tried to reach the place where the indoor set was located. Sensing that matters were beginning to get worse, the district administration decided to order suspension of the shooting. According to Kumar, the shooting began at 1430 IST and the suspension order was served at 1630 hours.

Mehta reportedly opposed the order, but with disturbances taking place outside, she and her leading actresses, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, had to be escorted back to their hotel by the police.

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta, unwilling to decide one way or the other on the matter, had put the onus on the district administration, authorising Alok Kumar to take whatever steps he deemed fit to maintain law and order.

Kumar said he had deployed eight companies of police personnel for the security of the film unit and none was hurt in the melee that took place near the place where the shooting was in progress.

He said shooting had also been suspended for tomorrow. The groups protesting against the movie have called for a Varanasi bandh (general strike) on Tuesday, February 8.

Asked about reports that the film's script had been modified and the Kashi Vidwat Parishad had approved the revised script, the district magistrate said there was some confusion there. Some of the protesters were claiming that two scripts were going around, one to placate the movie's opponents and the other to actually film, he said.

In any case, he added, the protesters' basic objection is to the movie's theme and not just some portions of the script and they are refusing to allow the film to be shot in Varanasi in any circumstances.

"We are not mediating between the two groups," he clarified. "Earlier they were having a dialogue, but now even that has stopped."

EARLIER REPORT:
Water shooting resumes amid protests, confusion

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If one closes one's eyes, do you really think the reality vanishes? -- Nandita Das
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RELATED INTERVIEWS
The film has to be shot in Varanasi -- Deepa Mehta
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How can anyone come back to shoot again in India? -- David Hamilton

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