Deepa Mehta's Water is a provocative work of social and political relevance, a film made all the more powerful because it presents its humanitarian case without having to mount a soapbox.

Set in 1938 during the final vestiges of India in the era of British colonialism, Water examines the longtime inhumane treatment of Hindu widows. As the film explains, Hindu law dictated that the death of a married man meant that half of his wife effectively died, as well. For the surviving widow, options were limited. She could fling herself on her husband's funeral pyre and perish with him, she could marry his younger brother (should he have one) or she could be banished to a poverty-ridden ashram to live out the rest of her life alongside other discarded widows.

Into the world of this final option comes Chuyia (Sarala), a widow who is all of 8 years old. Although she doesn't even remember being married off, the girl is taken by her father to an ashram for widows run by the fat and domineering Madhumati (Manorama). This is a place of hopelessness, its residents living in near poverty and largely forgotten by society. Chuyia's insolence and restless inquisitiveness cause ripples throughout the ashram. Chuyia's presence has special impact on two widows who befriend the girl, the religious Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) and the beautiful Kalyani (Lisa Ray).

In the dreary colony, where the widows are forced to wear nondescript white saris and shave their heads bald, Kalyani stands out. She is young and beautiful, and her hair is long. As we gradually learn, it is because Madhumati allows the woman to be pimped out by a eunuch (Raghuvir Yadav) for wealthy men who reside across the Ganges River.

The movie subtly shifts focus from Chuyia to Kalyani, who quickly meets, and falls in love with, a handsome student and Gandhi acolyte named Narayan (John Abraham). The attraction is mutual. Although Narayan is the son of a Brahmin, the young man represents a new social consciousness that rejects the marginalization of the lowest rungs in the nation's unforgiving caste system.

Water is the third in a trilogy of Mehta's "elemental" films -- the other two being 1996's Fire and 1998's Earth -- and it inspired a torrent of controversy in the director's native India. When Mehta began shooting several years ago, Hindu fundamentalists were berserk and destroyed the movie sets; Mehta even received a number of death threats. As she explains in the DVD's supplemental material, the frenzy forced a five-year delay in filming. By the time she returned to the project, the movie had to be recast and principal shooting moved to Sri Lanka.

Admirably, however, Water is a piquant social protest that happens to be executed with a great deal of masterful storytelling. The plot does include a few contrivances, particularly the rather quick romance that develops between Kalyani and Narayan. But, hey, this is a movie, after all; some contrivances are inevitable. For the most part, Mehta allows the injustices heaped upon these women to be revealed through a solid story and fully realized characters. Water shows; it does not preach. Moreover, the movie boasts moments of genuine humor, romance and inspiration. Through it all, the director-writer is helped mightily by the strong performances of Sarala, Ray and Biswas.

The despair of the widows is contrasted against the film's sumptuous visual beauty. Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (who also lensed the other entries of Mehta's trilogy) illuminates the landscapes in a spectrum of stunning blues and greens. Water deals with weighty matters, but it is hardly awash with gloom. The movie is captivating on visual and emotional levels.

Presented in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1, the image quality is exquisite. A beautiful-looking movie receives loving treatment here, richly detailed and boasting inky blacks, vivid colors and realistic skin tones. Not only does the transfer have no noticeable defects, but the picture is simply terrific.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is solid, featuring an often-riveting immersion of sound. The language track is Hindi, with subtitles available in English, Spanish and English for the hearing-impaired. Unfortunately, the subtitles are unusually small, which can make things challenging for audiences with less-than-perfect vision.

A full-length commentary by Mehta is thorough, informative and consistently engaging. She covers a great deal of ground, and manages to do so in a fluid pace that does not feel overly scripted.

The four-minute, 15-second featurette titled The Making of Water is far too short, giving only a cursory overview of a movie that was seven years in the making. The piece includes an interview with Mehta and some television news clips.

Much better is A Behind the Scenes Look. The 21-minute, 10-second documentary is a more thorough exploration of the controversy surrounding the film, boasting interviews with Mehta and the cast.

Water is that rarest of movies with a social conscience, evoking the viewer's sense of outrage without lecturing to the audience or being too manipulative with the subject matter. Perhaps the most disturbing injustice surrounding the film is that Deepa Mehta met such fierce resistance for the reasonable suggestion that India's 33 million widows be treated with respect and dignity.