Radha (Shabana Azmi), is the heartbeat of the take-out restaurant run by her husband, Ashok (Kulbushan Kharbanda); and of the household she shares upstairs with his ancient mother, Biji, and his brother Jatin (Jaaved Jaaferi).
Jatin's young bride, Sita (Nandita Das), comes to live with the family. She fits well into her new daily routine, helping Radha in the kitchen and caring for Biji. But we soon discover that the venerable traditions upon which the household rests are threadbare. Jatin is obsessed with his Chinese mistress; Ashok and Radha are not coping well with a barren 15-year-old marriage; and the servant, Mundu, delights in showing Biji X-rated videos borrowed from under the counter at Jatin's video store.
Sita's remarkably modern personality has a profound effect on Radha, who is at once surprised and fascinated. through their relationship, Radha is, for the first time, brought to question every notion she has had about her place in this world.
Fire is a film about desire and the manifestation of desire. It's about thwarted passions, spiritual obsessions, soured aspirations, secret lives and isolation; it explores the contradictions and chaos that exist between the old and the new, between East and West, and between the spiritual and the material.
Special Agent Matti
Fire is about an extended family trying to get their rocks off with all the wrong people. In other words, it's a bit of a melodrama despite its noble PR intentions.
And I found it a bit boring, too. Despite being a radical militant lesbian feminist I just didn't find that this film had much to say to me. While I'm sure that people in India (or even suburbia) may find the lezzo love scenes titillating and/or shocking, hey, I've seen worse at Mardi Gras. Perhaps I'm just another jaded critic, but perhaps this film was made for, of and from an Indian sensibility, and it doesn't get down to the nitty gritty that we here in the cynical and debauched West need for stimulation.
If the things I have been complaining about are turning you on then see it by all means, otherwise wait for it to come out on video. Especially if it's raining and cold: it's a rainy, cold Sunday avo kind of movie.
M (Sex scenes, low level coarse language)
104 minutes (1:44 hours)
Film: 26 November 2000
