Water has been ruling Deepa Mehta's heart and mind since the movie was first pitched by Canada as its official entry for the Best foreign language film category in Oscars. The big Oscar night in Los Angeles is today and the lady is all prepared to walk down the red carpet in an antique tissue saree of her mother.

Meanwhile, whether she wins or not, Deepa has already set her eyes on projects beyond Water. The much-in-news issue of racism will be the theme of Deepa Mehta's next film titled 'Exclusion'. The film is based on an incident that occurred in early twentieth century known as 'Komagata Maru.' It deals with exclusion laws passed in Canada at that time to keep Asians at bay.

Though Deepa Mehta denies ever being a victim of racism herself, she agrees that the menace is a reality and according to her it is related to "economy". "There was a time when the west didn't consider the Arabs white, but today they do, since Arabs are rich today", she says.

"Racism hasn't got to do with the colour of your skin, rather its whether you belong to a developed world or not" adds Deepa. Asked if she thought if Shilpa Shetty was a victim of racism in the 'Celebrity Big Brother', she gives a definitive yes.

Coming back to 'Exclusion' in which Deepa would be directing Amitabh Bachchan, Deepa says, "I am still writing the film, it will go on floor only after that, John and Seema will be there in my film, and A R Rehman will be giving the music".

And while Deepa is writing Exclusion, there is something else that is coming from the director's kitty, a film titled 'The Julia Project'. "Its a film by Universal Pictures, I will be just directing the film. The Julia Project is a story set in America after the civil war, its story of an American girl falling in love with a Korean", says Deepa about the movie.

Speaking of the film 'Water', when she first started Water seven years ago it became a target of religious fundamentalism forcing her to stop the project.

With a changed star cast and a changed location Deepa made what she says "a better Water".

"We retained the original screenplay, the location was changed though. From Varanasi we moved to Sri Lanka, but no we didn't tried to recreate Varanasi, it was not possible. The place we depict is somewhere near Indo-Bangla border in 1938", she says.

Talking of the universal appeal of the film Deepa says "Even though the film is based in India, every country has a group of people who have been marginalised, Water also deals with one such group(widows), so people will relate to the film."

"What makes Water most special is my beleif in the subject. First time I saw the widow ashrams on a visit to India, I knew I had to make a film on these women," says Deepa.

Coming to the Oscar ceremony it's not the flashbulbs or the red carpet that Deepa is thinking about -- all that she is looking forward to is the company she will be in at the event. "I'm really looking forward to meeting all the people at the Oscars,".