In Shooting Water: A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking (2007), Canadian author Devyani Saltzman recounts her mother Deepa Mehta’s tumultuous journey to make Water, a controversial film about the abuse of Indian child widows in the 1930s. Amid violent protests by Hindu nationalists, death threats, and the destruction of film sets, Mehta is forced to relocate production to Sri Lanka and shoot under a false title. Saltzman’s memoir explores not only the political and cultural resistance surrounding Water, but also the personal bond between mother and daughter as they navigate censorship, artistic integrity, and perseverance in the face of adversity.
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