Written by: Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

In Colonial India in 1938, according to Hindu law, a woman who outlived her husband had three options: to burn on her husband's funeral pyre, to marry her husband's younger brother, if he is willing, or to live in penance and poverty in a widows' ashram.

But what if the widow is a child? That's the dilemma faced by eight year-old Chuyia (Sarala), whose father delivers her to a home in Varanasi run by controlling, pot-smoking 70 year-old Mahumati (Manorma). The widows there wear white and have shaved heads.

Confused and frightened, she's befriended by wise, middle-aged Shakuntala (Seema Biswas of "Bandit Queen"), who is questioning her faith. There's also beautiful Kalyani (Bollywood's Lisa Ray), who refuses to cut her hair and keeps a dog against house rules.

As the poignant story unfolds, Mahumati arranges with a pimp/eunuch (Raghuvir Yadav) to prostitute Kalvani to the Brahmin gentry. One day, when Kalvani's puppy runs away, he's caught by Narayan (John Abraham), a rebellious law student who falls in love with Kalyani but tradition prevents him from marrying her.

Reformer Mahatma Gandhi is rising to power, and these women's dilemmas address religious fundamentalism and oppression of child widows - which has been officially outlawed but still persists today.

This is the third film in writer/director Deepa Mehta's "Elemental Trilogy," following "Fire" and "Earth." Sumptuously photographed by Giles Nuttgens, the meditation unfolds on or near the Ganges River and is filled with exquisite liquid images. The filming of "Water" was shut down in 2000 by rioting Hindu fanatics in Benares who destroyed the sets; production resumed later in Sri Lanka.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Water" is a haunting, outraged 8. In Hindi with English subtitles, it's compelling cry against inhumanity.