The golden standard for Canadian films-a $1-million take at the domestic box office-was surpassed by Water on November 25. It was Mehta's second film in three years to earn the big bucks, and it was one of the few Canadian films to do so since 2002.

Mehta's Bollywood/Hollywood also earned more than $1 million, as did the documentary The Corporation and the smash hit C.R.A.Z.Y., among others. Water is also the first Canadian film acquired by major U.S. distributor Fox Searchlight.

Mehta, born in Amritsar, India, in 1949, married Canadian producer Paul Salzman (the two have since divorced) and immigrated to Canada in 1973. She has no formal filmmaking training but holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of New Delhi. She lives in Toronto.