Deepa Mehta is "a very proud Indo-Canadian." Although the Indians are not proud of her

When Deepa Mehta peeked into the lens of the camera and shouted for the first time, an action on the set. from Leila a six-part series of Netflix India that debuted on June 14, resulted in an improvement of the process. Almost 20 years have pbaded since his attempt to shoot Water last installment of his trilogy Elements in India.

In the beginning, with Shabana Azmi and her masters of the Indian art house Nandita Das and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, they encountered problems during the filming session in Varanasi in February 2000. The sets of Ganges banks were destroyed by protesters of the Hindu right, who had previously described Fire (1996) immoral and used false rumors that the script of Water included insulting references to Hinduism. Mehta had to pack and finally shot the film in Sri Lanka in 2003, with a new cast of Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray and John Abraham.

When the shooting of Leila takes place in New Delhi and the surrounding area. the areas started last November, Mehta was both nervous and excited. She was grateful that she did not have to work on a Netflix series with the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ("Approval or Disapproval," etc.).

"Because I'm nervous about it. I had a very difficult story with India and filming there, "she says, her face becoming thoughtful for a moment. Sitting at Canteen, Toronto's light-hearted TIFF Bell Lightbox on the ground floor, Mehta has a cup of English breakfast tea in her hands. As always, she has an astonishing look: her hair is silver, two gold buttons sparkle in her nose, her eyes are lined with kohl. She created a navy striped shirt and a set of jeans with a light scarf and a bright red tote bag. "But it was exciting because it's home to us in so many ways. It can not stop being at home. I am very proud to be Indo-Canadian. Even though the Indians are not very proud of me, I am very proud of that.

In addition, there was the plot to turn a series on a dystopian Indian background.

Leila is based on a Novel 2017 by Indian journalist Prayaag Akbar.Located in a fictional Indian city In the near future, he tells the story of Shalini and his search for his missing daughter.Shalini, a Hindu, leads a comfortable life with her husband, a Muslim, Rice, and their daughter, Leila, in a game of the city called East End While the rest of the city separated by building walled areas on the basis of religious, ethnic or caste differences, East End remains one of the bastions where such rules of purity However, due to the lack of water, a group of applicators called the Repeaters go to Shalini's home, killing Rice and taking her three-year-old daughter.

Netflix's adaptation remains faithful to the main story, adding multiple levels The fictional city called Aryavatra, gray and gray, suffocated by sadness. The women's center for which Shalini is forced to stay and prove her purity is monitored by two transgender guards, who swear. The establishment is run by a man they call Guru Ma. In the beginning, to try to integrate, Shalini plans to escape at the end of the first episode.

The book is inspired by Akbar's personal and professional experiences. Son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother, Akbar gave interviews about growing up "without rooting" in the enclaves of New Delhi before settling in Mumbai, where buildings Renting units on the basis of dietary or religious restrictions regularly make headlines. Her journalistic work often covered the rise of Hindu nationalism, as well as issues of social justice. Although some Indian critics have compared Leila to Margaret Atwood The Handmaid's Tale Akbar spoke of his affinity with the South African writer J. M. Coetzee. During a trip to India in 2017, Mehta interviewed Akbar with Newslaundry, an Indian portal of online media reviews and news created by veteran Indian media Madhu Trehan – who happens to be a friend from Mehta.

"me you have to read the book.So, I read the book and I fell in love with it, I forgot it and moved on to something else," said Mehta In fact, she had begun working on her next film project based on Funny Boy the first novel by Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai, hailed by critics, when she received a call from Netflix asking if she would direct a limited series based on Leila Impressed by the document written by Urmi Juvekar, who was also the showrunner, Mehta took over the project by ensuring that She had control as a creative executive producer – setting the tone for the series and in particular the choice of actors.

The series belongs to Huma Qureshi, "said Mehta, adding that she had decided to First seen Qureshi during his first performance in Gangs of Wbadeypur of Anurag Kas Hyap, a gangster film taking place in the black lands of the Indian coal mines. at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. "It was a commitment because the actors shoot a movie for an hour and a half or two hours and they go home. It was a six-part series of one hour and continues.

"I said," Huma, no makeup. And there was none. She gave up everything to become a Bollywood star and she became Shalini.

Shalini's adventure is at the base of the series, Mehta adds. His search for his daughter in a dystopian world where mixed marriages are frowned upon is only the surface of a complex problem. Leila – the novel and its adaptation of Netflix – s' inscribed in a particular Indian landscape, in which the BJP political party won the last Indian elections by a mbadive majority on the basis of its nationalist program Hindu, and self-defense violence against Muslims are a scary reality. However, this reflects the rise of right-wing rhetoric around the world observed in the current debate over abortion rights in the United States or the flirtation of Andrew Scheer with the extreme movement right.

"Whether it's in America or it's happening here in Canada, or in Italy, where people say," We do not want immigrants. "What is this fear? Fear of the other. It's the fear of what's different, "she says. And the imaginary world of all dystopian novels, and their cinematic adaptations, are based on our worst fears. "That it is Blade Runner for example or from Brazil . Where it is 1984 . Or, for me, one of the most amazing films is Children of Men because it is quite similar [to Leila ]. "

For Mehta, the point Critic of Leila and its relevance in the world are the decisions that Shalini takes to lead a life with dignity. "We have a choice now wherever we live. Are we going to be humanitarian or not? … We must Dignity for women, for mothers. For the space, for the honesty. Can we do it? That's his lesson. "

As for his favorite filming history Leila in" Every game is like every other – the minute you say action, you enter another world. But when you say cut, the reality of where you film – India, Sri Lanka, or New York – strikes you, "she said with a happy smile." What I liked was that when I shouted cut, the restoration was desi [Indian] .I was in paradise! Samosas, chana-bhatura C is life! "

Leila begins to broadcast on Netflix on June 14.

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