Lisa Ray and John Abraham starrer Water is all set to release in India. The films has been directed by Deepa Mehta, who nurtured and finally made the film after six years of strife stress and political intrusion. ‘Water' has been cleared by the Indian censor board with a UA certificate.

The award-winning movie, which has been shown to acclaim in Canada, Australia and Spain, is currently awaiting release in the US theatres on Friday.

Speaking from the US, Deepa said, "I can't believe that my film has gone all over the world - but not to India. Water is an Indian film, a Hindi film. It depicts a state of being that's predominantly Indian. How do we justify its exclusion from its country of origin?"

She further added, "Can you believe it, a film that was almost ruined by radical Hindu elements who were then part of the ruling regime, finally gets a no-objection certificate. I feel vindicated."

Water is the final film in Deepa's trilogy which also includes ‘Fire' and ‘Earth'. The film is set in the 1930's India and tells the sad tale of the Indian widows. Set in a widows' ashram, it follows a rebellious child widow fighting against the age-old dogmas and her relationship with a beautiful young woman who falls in love with a follower of Mahatma Ghandi.

The film was originally permitted to be shot at Indian locations. But with religious fundamentalists objecting to Deepa telling the story of castaway widows and seeing that things were going out of control the government shut-down filming. Deepa completed the film later with a changed cast in SriLanka.

A release date has been set for November 2006 in India.