From Water to Jal: Metaphorization and Cultural Symbolism Embedded in Deepa Mehta's Water

Abstract: Though water and jal are synonymous in two different languages they are widely different in their cultural configuration. Water gets manifested in the Indian context as rain, river, a passage, a boundary, a solvent, a cooling agent, a cleanser, the receiver of the mortal remains and a complex metaphor. It also holds significance as a cinematic symbol not just in visual but also as a sound rhetoric. In Deepa Mehta’s movie Water, it makes a distinct cartographic reference to the ancient town of Rawalpur along the banks of the Ganges. Furthermore, water appeals differently to the different characters in the movie – an escape route to penitency. Furthermore, it is also at the cusp of the binaries of pure/impure, traditional/ modern and sync/ redemption. This paper is an attempt to examine water as a motif and metaphor in Deepa Mehta's movie and to show how it creates a fluid site wherein many beliefs and ideologies dissolve or float to create a complex narrative. The paper also explains how the filmmaker uses water as a significant part of a visual rhetoric