Deepa Mehta is as wound up as a Japanese doll. The Oscar countdown has begun and the Canada based Indian filmmaker is running the best she could do to find the right accessories to match with the sari she is going to wear for the Oscar night. "Just two more days to go! John (Abraham) is on the way although his mother had pneumonia.

Right now I'm only concentrating on the accessories for my sari for the Oscars night," Mehta told IANS. Mehta's internationally lauded film "Water" is in the running to bag the best foreign film Academy award. She and her daughter Devyani are donning saris at the Oscars event.

"I'll be wearing my mother's pure-gold tissue-silk sari woven in Varanasi around 70 years ago. My mom has a gorgeous collection of saris, which my dad's mother gave her. Who wants to wear a designer sari when I've my mother's treasured clothes at my disposal?

"I'm trying to convince Lisa Ray to wear a sari too. I hope she does. But my daughter Devyani will also be wearing a sari. Why shouldn't we proudly wear our own clothes? Why should we get into dresses and compete with the Nicole Kidmans of Hollywood? It's very important for us to be proud of our Indian heritage."

About her whirlwind visit to Delhi and Mumbai promoting "Water" before its Indian release, Mehta says: "I wanted to let my people know that I'm not scared of a fundamentalist backlash any longer and that I'm very proud of the film."

Starring Seema Biswas, John and Lisa, "Water" portrays the tragic lives of widows in the early 1930s.

After the Oscars, Mehta will take time to complete the script of "Exclusion" which will star Amitabh Bachchan and John in pivotal roles.

"I'll be going to my farm near Toronto to write the script. The images are already in place. I want to take the whole of March off to write."

As for the Oscar, "We've done all we could for 'Water'. Now let's see what happens. This year the competition in the foreign film category is really very tough. I agree our product is damn good. And, even if we don't win the Oscar, it's been a long long time since somebody walked the red carpet at the Oscars night in a sari."