Friday, September 9 2005 10:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Toronto: The Toronto International Film Festival opened with the world premiere of India-born director Deepa Mehta's film 'Water', which triggered protests when it began filming in the country five years ago.

Crowds gathered at the two cinema halls last night (Sept 8, 2005) to watch the film set in pre-independent India. 'Water' tells the story of an eight-year-old child bride Chuyia, who is sent to a widow's ashram after her husband dies.

A total of 335 films from 52 countries, including 109 world premieres, will be showcased at the 30th annual festival for over the next 10 days.

The film 'Water,' featuring John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, is the third part of a trilogy that included 'Fire' (1996) and 'Earth' (1998). Both films premiered at the festival.

"The film was to be shot in the holy city of Varanasi in 2000, but overnight, violent protests by Hindu fundamentalists erupted in the city," Mehta said in a press release.

The film was re-shot several years later, with a new cast and under great secrecy in Sri Lanka.

British filmmaker of Indian origin Gurinder Chadha-scripted 'The Mistress of Spices' starring Aishwarya Rai will also feature at the festival.

For the fourth time running Buddhadeb Dasgupta will represent the country's cinema in the prestigious World Masters sidebar with his latest Bengali film 'Kaalpurush,' starring Mithun Chakraborty, Rahul Bose and Sameera Reddy.