Movies : Grounded to ‘Earth’ : Political upheaval in 1947 India is the subject of the second film in director Deepa Mehta’s trilogy.

It’s a scorching August day and camera-toting tourists trot in and out of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. The lobby is abuzz with chatter and music, but writer-director Deepa Mehta is a study in serenity.

Mehta, 49, is in town with her film “Earth” as part of the American Cinematheque’s Universal Studios Hitchcock International Directors Series. “Earth,” the second in Mehta’s trilogy based on the elements, follows the 1997 lesbian drama “Fire.” “Water,” which is in pre-production, will be released next year. “Earth” opens Friday.

Although the larger theme is the violent political upheaval of 1947, the heart of “Earth” is a love story involving three young adults: Shanta, a beautiful, young Hindu governess (whose charge, an 8-year-old Parsee girl, is the story’s narrator), and her two suitors, Hasan and Ice Candy man, both Muslim.

Mehta, 49, an elegant and well- spoken woman, shared her thoughts on filmmaking, India and politics with The Times.

Question: Tell me about the trilogy and how it came about.

Answer: I was still shooting “Fire,” and I knew that the next film that I wanted to do was about the partition of India in 1947. People started asking what it was called, and I just said “Earth.” It made perfect sense that I would call it “Earth” because it is about the politics of nationalism and what territory means to us, what our land means to us, why we make the sacrifices we do. Why do we kill for it, and what is the particular nature of nationalism that can evoke such feelings of passion? And I knew I wanted to make a film about sexuality and religion as well, and that’s “Water.”

Q: Explain the themes of each.

A: “Fire” is about the politics of sexuality, “Earth” is about the politics of nationalism, and “Water” is about the politics of religion.

Q: Describe your upbringing.

A: I was born in India and grew up in Delhi. I went to school and university in India. My father was a film distributor and he had a theater as well, so after school we’d go and watch movies for free.

Q: What kinds of films did you watch?

A: Indian popular cinema, and every Sunday at 11 o’clock we’d have an American movie. Only on Sundays. Strange American films, I remember, “Ben Hur” being a big favorite. And then they started showing French films, which was very interesting, seeing different kinds of cinema. But by the time I was in university I knew I wanted to have nothing to do with film! I’d been saturated with it. So I did my master’s in philosophy, and I was going to do my dissertation for my PhD, and I met a friend who said they needed somebody to work part time in a place called Cinema Workshop, a small place that made documentary films in Delhi. I learned how to do sound first, and then I learned camera work, I learned to edit and then finally I made my own documentary and discovered how much I loved it.

Q: I was struck by the colors you used in the film. The oranges, and reds. . . .

A: It’s very important for me to do a color palette of the film, and the palette comes from the emotional content of the script. I knew that I had to use terra cotta. Red and yellow are the two very prominent colors. Red for blood and passion and for earth. And yellow for hope and warmth. The film reflects the beauty, texture and colors of India. And how that beautiful world starts to erode when war starts knocking on your door.

Q: I’m afraid that in the States most people’s knowledge of that time in India’s history begins and ends with Mohandas Gandhi. Do you think the subject matter, not to mention your unromantic approach to India’s independence, will be difficult for Western audiences?

A: Even though my film is very particular, in the sense that it’s set in 1947 and it’s about the division of India into India and Pakistan, it’s also really an exploration of what colonialism does to countries. So wherever the British, or it could be anybody but for us it was the British, whenever they flew the country, they divided it. And they leave us holding the mess. I also had a real desire to demystify the raj. This whole thing about the benign rulers, 250 years of the British Empire, and the nostalgia about what it was like. It’s horrible to be ruled by somebody else. And it’s not just India, it’s Ireland, Israel, Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo. It’s so sad.

Q: The reason many of us have religious beliefs is to guide us morally, and yet it’s so often the cause of such pain and division. Why do you think that is and why do people continue these patterns of war?

A: It’s true that most wars are fought in the name of religion, but I think [the strife] has a lot to do with politics, and socioeconomic reasons. Every religion, basically, teaches us to be honest, and to be good human beings, but because our faith is so dear to us it is also the most fragile part of our nature. So for politicians, religion is a very easy target if they want [to provoke] riots or unrest; all they have to do is fan those embers that are already there. War gives such a license to people to realize their worst possible potential.

Q: The love story in “Earth” is quite moving, and you feel such sympathy for the suitor who doesn’t get chosen. The love scene is very delicate; how do you handle something like that?

A: I must say that as a woman director I had great fun making sure that Rahul [who plays Hasan] takes off his shirt but Shanta doesn’t. But the love scene was the toughest one to shoot because it has to be sensual and yet it has to come from a place of purity. The line is so thin, you have to choreograph every move. Not more than one button off her blouse . . . . but he takes off his shirt. That’s for all the times men directors make women unrobe.

Q: Do you have any desire to make a film in the U.S.?

A: I did a film called “Camilla” with Jessica Tandy and Bridget Fonda--in fact it was Jessica Tandy’s last film. We shot it in Savannah [Georgia]. But it turned out to be a film that I don’t even recognize. Whenever you have a budget which is so huge, well, to me it was huge, you have considerations that are not about the integrity to the script or to the vision. The considerations are to the market, and I’m not putting that down, it’s a reality, let’s face it. So if you want to be in that arena you better be prepared to play in that arena; you can’t be like a hurt rabbit and be naive about it. I learned a very good lesson from it.

Q: Who are some of the filmmakers who have influenced you?

A: Well, the great, what you call humanist, filmmakers, from the ‘50s have really influenced me. Satyajit Ray and his “Apu” trilogy, Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Ugetsu,” Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story,” Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief.” I guess I like films that engage me emotionally, I don’t get off on films that just engage me cerebrally. Oh, and now I love [Emir] Kusturica; he’s a Serbian filmmaker.

Q: Tell me more about “Water.”

A: We start shooting on Nov. 1 in India. It’s set on the bank of the Ganges, which is a very holy river, hence “Water,” and it’s about religion. It’s an amalgamation of “Earth” and “Fire.” And it’s a love story, all my films have love stories, because I think love exists. Whether we reject it or accept it or try to deal with it, it’s always there.

Q: Do you know what you’ll direct after “Water?”

A: After “Water” I don’t want to film in India for a few years. I may do something in New York. We’ll see.

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“Earth” opens in select theaters Friday.