'Water' ebbs and flows with emotion

In India in the 1930s (and, some suggest, still today), a woman whose husband had died could do one of three things.

1) Burn with him on his funeral pyre.

2) Marry her brother-in-law, if he'd have her.

Fox Searchlight 'Water' B The verdict: A brave and powerful film. Director: Deepa Mehta Starring: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman Run time: 114 minutes Release date: April 28, 2006 Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual situations and drug use. Language: Hindu with English subtitles. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Water'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

3) Disappear into an ashram, a so-called "house of widows," and spend the rest of her life in poverty as a virtual nonperson.

Should she refuse these options, she'd be reborn in the belly of a jackal, which probably isn't as much fun as it sounds.

In Deepa Mehta's superlative "Water," which had the honor of being the opening night selection at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, the widow in question is 8-year-old Chuyia (Sarala). Yes, you read that right — and she barely remembers her husband, let alone marrying him. The year is 1938 and Gandhi (briefly glimpsed at a train station) is beginning to be a force for change. But that won't affect centuries-old Hindu religious laws. Chuyia has her head shaved, her bracelets taken and is dropped off at the ashram by her regretful father.

Once inside, the spirited child immediately runs afoul of Madhumati (Manorama), a sort of Jabba the She-Hut who lords it over the others like the alpha Mean Girl in a sorority house. When Chuyia whimpers, Madhumati tells her that without a husband she's half-dead and can't feel pain, The little girl feistily snaps back, yes, but she's also still half-alive.

Fortunately, the lovely and sympathetic Kalyani (Lisa Ray) befriends her. The only one allowed to keep her long hair, Kalyani is basically the ashram's meal ticket. The others are permitted to beg for food, but that's it. Anything else would be considered blasphemous. But Madhumati pimps Kalyani out to the wealthy gentry across the Ganges, meaning she probably earns more in three hours than the rest do in three weeks.

It's a horrific life — degrading and ugly — but Kalyani has a chance to escape it when handsome young lawyer Narayan (John Abraham), a supporter of Gandhi's progressive ideas, wants to marry her. He agrees with his well-off, Shakespeare-quoting Anglophile friend: The isolation of widows is more for financial reasons than religious ones. One less mouth to feed, four less saris to buy, a corner of the house freed up.

Along with the love story, Mehta lays out a widow's lot with a sharp eye for character and social detail. As devout as she is gentle, middle-aged Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) has spent her life in the ashram and is finally questioning what sort of holy law would want women to remain in this state of half-being. Why, in other words, does her own religion despise her? And toothless, whining crone Patiraji (Vidula Javalgekar)? who no longer remembers what normal life is, still longs for a sweet like the ones she had on her wedding day.

Their heads shaved, dressed in their white saris, the widows eerily resemble the ghosts they've become. But it's worse than that. They're also demonized. A man yells at Shakuntala when her shadow threatens to fall across the face of a young bride. Kalyani is chastised when she accidentally bumps into a woman who's just finished bathing in the Ganges. Now she'll have to bathe all over again, the woman hisses — as if she's touched something unclean.

Mehta may have been feeling like a pariah herself when she first tried to make "Water" in 2000. Production in India was forced to shut down amid massive protests by Hindu fundamentalists that included torching of the sets and death threats against the director. George Lucas took out a full page ad in Variety objecting to her treatment.

Delayed but not deterred, Mehta began again in 2003. This time, she shot the film in Sri Lanka under a bogus title and with an entirely new cast.

Movies that invite controversy — be it from religious zealots or repressive governments — are generally worth seeking out. What someone doesn't want aired is probably something that absolutely should be. By turns amusing and tragic, touching and romantic, "Water" ebbs and flows with devastating truths and profound insights into the hypocrisy of extremism in any religion.