By Subhash K Jha

Deepa Mehta is fed up of being asked if her film Heaven On Earth is similar to Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked.

"I am tired of being asked how I feel about Provoked. How am I supposed to feel about it? There's so many love stories being made. Would you compare Saawariya with Jaane Tu ....Ya Jaane Na?

Just because it's about domestic violence it doesn't follow that our films have any similarity. Shakespeare has said there are only three stories. It's how you tell those stories that makes all the difference in the world. People should stop comparing my film to Provoked even without having seen it."

Jagmohan Mundha is far more tolerant of his film being compared with Deepa's. "I haven't seen Heaven On Earth . But I'd like to. As far as comparing Provoked with Heaven On Earth is concerned I'm glad my film has set a benchmark for all films on domestic violence."

Mundhra refuses to see domestic violence as formula for celluloid drama. "Certainly not! But the fear of being labeled exploitative should not stop a filmmaker from telling the story of what goes behind closed doors."