Fire

About the film

Fire is a 1996 English-language romantic drama film written and directed by Deepa Mehta, starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. An Indo-Canadian co-production, it is the first installment of Mehta's Elements trilogy; it is succeeded by Earth (1998) and Water (2005).

The film is loosely based on Ismat Chughtai's 1942 story, "Lihaaf" ("The Quilt"). Fire is one of the first mainstream Bollywood films to explicitly show homosexual relations, and the first to feature a lesbian relationship. After its 1998 release in India, activists staged several protests, setting off a flurry of public dialogue around issues such as homosexuality and freedom of speech.

Plot

The film opens with a young Radha sitting in a mustard field with her parents. Her mother tells her a tale of a person who wanted to see the ocean, but Radha says that she does not understand the moral of the story.

The film flashes forward to Sita, a newly married woman on honeymoon with her husband Jatin, who is distant and shows little interest in Sita. Jatin is in a typical joint-family arrangement – he lives with his older brother Ashok, his sister-in-law Radha, his paralysed mother Biji and the family servant Mundu. Ashok and Jatin run a small store that sells food and rents videotapes.

Jatin shows no care for Sita, and she learns that he only agreed to the arranged marriage in order to put an end to Ashok's nagging. Jatin continues to date his modern Chinese girlfriend, and Sita does not rebuke him. The rest of Jatin's home is not rosy either. Biji is immobile and speechless after a stroke, and Sita and Radha must constantly attend to her. Sita spends her days slaving in the hot kitchen, and finds herself lonely and frustrated at night because Jatin is out with his girlfriend. She yearns to break out of this stifling situation.

Production

The film had a budget of $800,000 and the crew deferred their salaries, worth $450,000.

Mehta stated that the first scene that she imagined was Sita and Jatin's visit to the Taj Mahal just after their arranged marriage—a sister-in-law was then introduced as that is a common feature she saw in her extended family. Azmi disclosed in 2025 that the film was originally going to be filmed in Hindi, but just a few days before shooting began, the dialogues were changed to English, as it was felt that "the dialogue didn't ring true". She also stated that the ending of the film was originally a different one but was changed to the released version on the advice of Farhan Akhtar.

Azmi initially hesitated about starring in the film, because though she liked the script, she was worried it would negatively affect her charity work with disadvantaged women in slums. However, she changed her mind, with the encouragement of her family (especially Zoya Akhtar, as it made her realise the next generation had very different worldviews), as well as her belief that not everybody would react the same, and that therefore it was important to get a conversation started.

Controversies and reaction

Fire was passed uncut by India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in May 1998 with a rating of Adult, the only condition being that the name of the character Sita (which is also the name of a significant Hindu goddess) be changed to Nita. The board allowed the original name back after more consideration. The board made their decision based on what it called the importance of the story for Indian women. The film was first screened on 13 November 1998 and ran to full houses in 42 theaters in most metropolitan cities throughout India for almost three weeks.

On 2 December, more than 200 Shiv Sainiks stormed a Cinemax theatre in suburban Goregaon in Mumbai, smashing glass panes, burning posters and shouting slogans. They compelled managers to refund tickets to moviegoers. On 3 December, the Regal theatre in Delhi was similarly stormed. American film critic William Arnold, in India doing a feature on the Bollywood Cinema, witnessed the Regal rampage and later reported: "I watched about a dozen Shiv Sena activists−including three women with canes−threaten the terrified manager, disperse the line of moviegoers, smash ticket booth and display windows, then force their way into the theater, smashing the food counter and terrorizing patrons. Outside, other Shiv Sena tore up the film's posters and billboards and set them ablaze in a bonfire." He added, "Apparently, this opening was particularly offensive to them because the Regal was a sacred site of Hindu supremacy: the spot where, 49 years ago, Gandhi's assassins−ex-members of the Shiv Sena's parent organization, the RSS−met on the fateful morning of the murder in January 1948."

Mina Kulkarni, one of the Delhi protesters, explained the reasoning behind their actions: "If women's physical needs get fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse, reproduction of human beings will stop". Bajrang Dal workers with lathis invaded Raj Palace and a few other theatres in Surat, breaking up everything in sight and driving away frightened audiences. Some of the rioters set fire to theatres screening the film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed and performed by A. R. Rahman except for the tracks "Ramayan" and "Allah Hu". "Julie's Theme" and "China Town" were added as bonus tracks and were not used in the movie. A. R. Rahman reused or reworked some of his acclaimed songs from Bombay.

Key details