Dilip Mehta Movies
- 2008
A woman who has learned a few things about taking care of herself runs the risk of having her tricks found out in this comedy-drama. Stella (Seema Biswas) works as a domestic in New Delhi and has used her fluency in English and skills as a cook to wrangle a job as housekeeper for Canada's ambassador to India. While she's well liked by her employers, they don't know that she's been submitting padded expense reports for years and pocketing the difference; she also regularly raids the cupboards to sell quality foods at a discount to others. However, Stella's schemes may be a thing of the past with the arrival of new ambassador Maya (Lisa Ray). Maya's husband Michael (Don McKellar) stays home to look after their young daughter, and cooks as a hobby; he's fond of Indian food, and insists that Stella give him lessons in preparing the local cuisine. With the man of the house a frequent presence in the kitchen, Stella finds scamming her employers is not nearly so easy, especially since she and Michael get along so well. Matters become all the more complicated when Maya and Michael hire a nanny, Tannu (Shriya Saran), who is an especially devout Hindu girl. Cooking With Stella was the first fiction feature from director Dilip Mehta. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In this India-set Canadian drama, two disparate wives related by marriage and united at first by the oppressiveness of Indian tradition that relegates them to miserable unions, find solace and love in each other's arms. The film opens as an unhappy young couple, Jatin and Sita, fumble through a conversation. Neither wanted to marry each other, but as it was arranged by Jatin's family, they had no choice. Marriage does not stop Jatin, who owns a video store, from continuing his long-time love affair with a Chinese hairdresser. Caring nothing for Sita, he doesn't even try to hide the affair. Jatin's brother Ashok (who forced Jatin's marriage) is married to Radha. Deeply frustrated at her inability to conceive, he has joined a radical cult that forbids all sexual contact. Ashok and Jatin's demanding mother doesn't help matters nor does the family's twisted servant Mundu. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2008
Internationally renowned photographer Dilip Mehta takes the helm for this documentary focusing on the lives of the nearly 33 million Hindu widows who are forced to live isolated from society and in abject poverty. Dilip had been working as a production designer on her sister Deepa Mehta's Oscar-nominated feature Water when she learned that widows in modern-day India are living in the same horrid conditions that they were forced to endure back in the 1930s, the era in which her sister's film takes place. After opening in the ancient temple city of Vrindavan, where thousands of widows wage a daily struggle just to survive, Dilip travels to rural villages and speaks to the women who are currently working for change. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Following the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, a widowed child bride lashes out against her fate in the Hindu ashram where she is expected to atone for her sins in this humanistic drama, the third installment of filmmaker Deepa Mehta's Elemental Trilogy. Chuyia's (Sarala) husband has died, and religious doctrine dictates that she now retire to an ashram to atone for the sins that caused her husband's untimely death. As Chuyia bides her time among widows both young an old -- some accepting of their fate and some bitterly resentful -- the preadolescent widow's spirit remains unbroken and hopeful for a brighter future. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, (more)
