finished Water, 2005
director Deepa Mehta's 3rd in a series (Earth, Fire)
nominated for Oscars

setting: 1938, India. widows in the holy city of Banaras/Varanasi
Chuyia- ~7yo widow protagonist. mischievous.
Kalyani (played by Lisa Ray)- also widowed without knowing her husband. beautiful, illiterate.
Madhumati- the "fatty, fatty, fatty." maintains the status quo- sending Kalyani via eunuch across the river to service Narayan's father/friend.
Shakuntala- the real matron of the group. very religious, and Chuyia's ultimate savior
Narayan (played by John Abraham)- Kalyani's mutual love interest. intellectual, follower of Gandhi

widow's options:
-die on husband's funeral pyre
-live a "pure" life of celibacy
-if family is fine with it, marrying husband's younger brother

plot:
chuyia, newly widowed, is thrown into the lot of other widows. extremely ostracized by others, not wanting them to taint them by touch or even simple conversation. forbidden to marry. chuyia chases kalyani's dog, and runs into narayan who follows her back and sees and is smitten with kalyani. kalyani still has all her hair, the others are shorn. and part of it is she's the one sent across the river to sleep with i thought narayan's father's friend, but also his father as well. kalyani and

Sacred texts of Mana?
A new law allows for widow remarriage- but not known, recognized, or followed
?# of widows currently; current status

finished now, but started earlier in the week. through @'s netflix. c had mentioned it the previous week, but i hadn't known what she was referring to...
- posted by B @ 6:29 PM