Fire (1996)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Deepa Mehta

Writer:

Deepa Mehta (written by)

Release Date:

22 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Ashok runs a family business that sells takeout food that also has a video rental store at the side...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Desire | Video Store | Arranged Marriage | Interracial Relationship

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Karishma Jhalani	...	Young Radha
Ramanjeet Kaur	...	Young Radha's mother
Dilip Mehta	...	Young Radha's father
Javed Jaffrey	...	Jatin (as Jaaved Jaaferi)
Nandita Das	...	Sita
Vinay Pathak	...	Guide at Taj Mahal
Kushal Rekhi	...	Biji
Shabana Azmi	...	Radha
Ranjit Chowdhry	...	Mundu
Kulbhushan Kharbanda	...	Ashok
Alice Poon	...	Julie
Ram Gopal Bajaj	...	Swamiji
Ravinder Happy	...	Oily man in video shop
Devyani Saltzman	...	Girl in video shop (as Devyani Mehta Saltzman)
Sunil Chabra	...	Milkman on bicycle (as Sunil Chhabra)

Runtime:

UK:108 min | USA:104 min

Country:

India | Canada

Language:

Hindi | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (re-rating) (2005) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 | India:A | France:U | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:Unrated | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated | India:(Banned) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

New Delhi, India

Company:

Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

Trivia:

On its opening day in India, some movie theaters were attacked by Hindu fundamentalists, and the movie was eventually banned for religious insensitivity. The film was banned in Pakistan for the lesbian relationship that the movie plays around.

Quotes:

Sita: There is no word in our language that can describe us. How we feel for each other.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Water (2005/I)

Soundtrack:

Aa Jaa Zara Mere Dil Ke Sahare

A near perfect drama

This intelligent, moving and beautiful film is a study in the ways people react to tradition (reminds me of William Faulkner's novels).

The characters all feel trapped by the weight of the roles they are expected to assume, and seek for a way to live within those roles rather than throw them off altogether. But as the story develops the two wives, trapped in loveless marriages, draw together. Drawing on the strength of their friendship and love, they give each other the courage to abandon their roles.

They have found that living within their traditions is no life at all, it is a sort of living death: without passion, without true connection to others, without fulfillment. Although they know there will be a price to be paid for their rebellion and freedom, it is a price much less dear than the sacrifice called for by a comfortable, predictable existence.

The screenplay is wonderful, the acting marvelous. Near perfect!