Fire

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.

It is revealed that Radha faces a similar problem. Many years ago, Ashok had come under the influence of Swamiji, a local religious preacher, who teaches that desires are the cause of suffering and must be suppressed. Ashok is completely taken by these monastic teachings and suppresses all his desires. He also donates large sums from the meager store income to treat the Swamiji's hydrocele condition. Swamiji teaches that sexual contact is permitted only as a means for procreation, and Radha is infertile. Accordingly, Ashok aims to stamp out all his desires and has not slept with Radha for the past thirteen years. He puts Radha through an excruciating ritual in which they lie motionless next to each other whenever he wants to test his resolve. Radha is racked with guilt over her inability to have children and driven to frustration by the ritual.

While the older Radha remains bound by tradition and subdued into silence, the younger Sita refuses to accept her fate. Sita's attitude slowly spills over onto Radha, who becomes slightly more assertive. One evening, shunned by their husbands and driven to desperation by their unfulfilled longings, Radha and Sita seek solace in each other and become lovers. Overjoyed at finding satisfaction in this manner, they continue it in secret. They eventually realise their love for each other and start looking for ways to move out. The pair's daily antics and adventures are witnessed by Biji, who disapproves but is unable to stop them. After some time, Mundu becomes aware of their relationship and he causes Ashok to walk in on Radha and Sita.

Ashok is horrified. He is also shattered when he finds this incident has stoked his own long-dormant desire. Sita decides to pack her belongings and leave the house immediately, while Radha stays behind in order to talk to her husband. The women promise to meet each other later that night. Ashok confronts Radha, who overcomes her subservience and pours out her emotions. Amid this argument, Radha's sari catches fire and Ashok angrily watches her burn without helping. Radha puts out the flames and recalls her mother's advice from when she was young – she can finally see her ocean.

An injured Radha leaves Ashok, moving out in order to join Sita.

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.

Theatres in Surat and Pune stopped screening the film on the same day. However, when attackers attempted to shut down a screening in Calcutta, ushers and audience fought back and the theatre stayed open. Maharashtra's Chief Minister, Manohar Joshi, supported the actions to shut down screenings of Fire: "I congratulate them for what they have done. The film's theme is alien to our culture".

Fire and lesbian rights in India

Fire and the conversation that began around the movie's general reception, both by supporters and detractors, encouraged lesbians and gay rights activists in India to be more vocal about their existence and the erasure of queerness from India's historical heritage. The release of this movie corresponded with the beginning of widespread national conversation about lesbian and gay rights. A new lesbian rights group, calling themselves the Campaign for Lesbian Rights (CALERI), formed in response to the backlash. This group held their own peaceful gatherings across India.

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.

Reception

In the weeks following its release, reviewers praised the film's explicit depiction of a homosexual relationship as "gutsy" and "explosive". Following the Shiv Sena attacks on the film, prominent party members said Fire had been targeted because it was an "immoral and pornographic" film "against Indian tradition and culture". The lesbian relationship depicted in the film was criticised as "not a part of Indian history or culture". Other politicians of the Hindu right voiced fears that the film would "spoil [Indian] women" and younger generations by teaching "happy wives not to depend on their husbands" and informing the public about "acts of perversion". Speaking on the dangers of Fire, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray compared lesbianism to "a sort of a social AIDS" which might "spread like an epidemic". Furthermore, Thackeray claimed that the film was an attack on Hinduism because the protagonists were named Sita and Radha, both significant goddesses in Hindu belief, and that he would withdraw his objections to the film if the names were changed to Muslim names.

A statement issued from the Shiv Sena's women's wing said: "If women's physical needs get fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse, reproduction of human beings will stop". Critics charged the Shiv Sena of committing "cultural terrorism" and of using the rhetoric of "Indian tradition" to protest images of female independence and suppress freedom of speech: "The justification for [Shiv Sena's] action... demonstrates that Indian 'culture' for the Sangh Parivar is defined essentially in terms of male control over female sexuality".

Gay activist Ashok Row Kavi criticised the Shiv Sena's protests as "gay-bashing" and disputed their claims that lesbianism was "against Indian tradition", indicating that homosexuality is in fact abundantly present in Hinduism and that the criminalisation of homosexuality in India was a legacy of British colonial rule and Christianity. Pointing to evidence of lesbianism in Indian tradition, he said: "What's wrong in two women having sex? If they think it doesn't happen in the Indian society they should see the sculptures of Khajuraho or Konark".

Madhu Kishwar, then-editor of Manushi, wrote a highly critical review of Fire, finding fault with the depiction of the characters in the film as a "mean-spirited caricature of middle-class family life among urban Indians". She claimed that homosexuality was socially accepted in India as long as it remained a private affair, adding that Deepa Mehta "did a disservice to the cause of women... by crudely pushing the Radha-Sita relationship into the lesbian mould", as women would now be unable to form intimate relationships with other women without being branded as lesbians.

North America

The film did not attract any particular attention outside India, including in Canada, despite being co-produced there; an article in The Toronto Star mentioned how it did not attract any attention at its initial premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. However, the film managed to attract a small but significant amount of audience in the United States, due largely due to a rave review in the Los Angeles Times and an interview with Mehta by The New York Times. The film consequently managed to have some screenings in some countries in Europe like France and Germany. Ruth Vanita touched on the topic of the niche interest in the film overseas, stating that the film had deep and distinct Indian elements, such as the joint family structure and the mechanisms of arranged marriages, which meant that non-Indian audiences could only understand the film on a relatively shallower level.