In a complete change of direction and stepping out of India Deepa Mehta is to make the film adaptation of Lolita In Tehran.Deepa's last two films Oscar-nominated Water and the soon to be release Heaven On Earth are films that fit the Bollywood genre, but now the Canadain based Indian filmmaker takes a leap into the veiled world of Tehran, making a film about Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi's bestseller Reading Lolita In Tehran. The New York Times' bestseller listed book translated into 32 languages, Reading Lolita In Tehran is the story of literature teacher Nafisi, who holds classes in ultra-conservative Tehran with seven of her best students discussing Western literature a subject forbidden in their country. A startlingly fresh and honest novel that tacckles women's rights and feminist issues in a conservative Islamic society, will see Mehta controversially go head to haed with fundamentalists much as she did as she did when she attempted to make Water in Varanasi 10 years ago.It is unlikely Mehta will be allowed to shoot the movie in actual locations, but she certainly loves to rattle convention Deepa was quoted in the Indian press as saying that one has to be fearless and true to one's vision. Otherwise there's no point in writing books or making films. Mehta's current project Heaven On Earth, starring Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, is also about female repression, though set in the westernised metropolitan City of Toronto. Water, starring Lisa Ray, is about the widows of Varanasi, and Reading Lolita will tackle the claustrophobia behind the veil.
Issues specially to do with women's rights are what the lady does best subjects such a domestic violence and wife beating are not peculiar to any one Indian community, and Deepa is determined to highlight these issues to raise thier profile and help to get them wiped out.