NDTV

Los Angeles / Mumbai, Jan 24: Deepa Mehta's 'Water', a story about the plight of Hindu widows in 1930s whose shooting in India had to be scrapped following protests from Sangh Parivar outfits, was on Tuesday January 23 nominated for the Oscar Awards in the Best Foreign Film category from Canada.

The film, starring John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas among others, made it to the final five. Other entries in the category include Pan's Labrinth (Mexico), After the Wedding (Denmark), and German Cold War drama The Lives of Others.

"I am so thrilled with this news. This film has meant so much to me, we have seen so much, that to have it all end in such a way is best thing I could have asked for," said Mehta.

The movie, which has a dominantly Indian cast is the last in Mehta's triology, which include Fire and Earth. After canceling the shooting in India, Mehta completed the film in Sri Lanka.

Set in Varanasi in 1930's, Water depicts the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple.

Mehta's films have always managed to tackle sensitive subjects. While Fire dealt with the taboo topic of lesbianism, Earth was set in the tumultuous times of the partition.

Fairly predictable nominations

The best picture nominations for the Academy Awards also look fairly predictable this year.

The likely contenders in today's nomination list are the musical Dreamgirls, the mob saga The Departed, the multinational drama Babel, and the British-royalty tale The Queen.

The road-trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine looks like a solid bet to take the fifth best-picture slot.

Earlier awards such as the Golden Globes typically help narrow down the field to a favorite or two.

This season, Hollywood's biggest honour seems up for grabs, with Dreamgirls winning best musical or comedy and Babel taking best drama at the Globes.

There is less drama over expected winners in other key categories. Helen Mirren is likely to win best actress as British monarch Elizabeth II in The Queen and Forest Whitaker seems a sure bet as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Other potential acting nominees include Penelope Cruz for Volver, Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal, Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness, Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg for The Departed.