We didn't start the fire..It was always burning. Review on Fire

According to me the FIRE has died down for a long time now. In fact I was under the impression that not just the smoke would have dried up, even the embers would not be glowing anymore. Surfing through the top thirty reviews for the day, I found not one, not two but three sparks. These sparks ignited a certain strange reaction in me. I felt I should just let it grow and take its natural course, no fire fighting in this case. But just for records let me make it clear – I didn’t start the fire!!!

For that matter I don’t think even Deepa Mehta did. It was always burning!!! She probably just captured one aspect on it on celluloid and rest is history. We all knew that fire was coming, even before it came to Madras (now Chennai), which is where I was living then (and we were like, hope WATER comes to Madras, Bangalore willing that was, that the water never came as freely as it should and another project by the similar name including the same crew never even took off is an altogether a different matter). Coming back what I started off saying, I had read in dailies, weeklies, monthlies (there weren’t any fortnightlies that I read then) about FIRE and the smoke it had raised. It was a movie that was supposed to shake the very roots of Indian culture, soft porn that was meant to hammer in Indian stereotypes for the Western audience and of course titillate Indian counter parts, anti-religion, anti-societal, corrupt and morally bankrupt attempt at achieving fame and a fat purse. I made up my mind I had to see this one!!!

The Plot:

A joint family that consists of an old mother, her two sons and their wives. The elder son has taken up the path of salvation through religion after realizing that he would not have any children from his wife, who has “non eggs in her ovary”. He believes in something like “desire is the root cause of evil. The best way to beat temptation is to keep all tempting objects around you and test your resolve against it”. Unfortunately he even considers his wife Radha (or is it her body), an object of temptation that he needs to learn to not succumb to.

If the younger son had, had his way he would have married his mistress. But she is not the type who would “marry into a joint family and become a baby making machine”. His elder brother and his mother forced him into a marriage with Sita. The two neglected women find solace in each other. What starts of as a empathetic emotional bond grows into a full fledged physical and emotional relationship. Radha and Sita are happy for the first time in a long time. They play like children, dance around the house imitating bollywood hero and heroine of yesteryears, more importantly they start being assertive with their husbands. Now will this joy last, what does the future hold for them and the family is what the movie is all about.

The technicalities:

I read a few reviews that said that FIRE did not have a story.Oh my God, has bollywood corrupted us enough to believe that long lost brothers, romance across the economic barrier, police-thief, angry wronged young man etc are the only themes on which movies should be made. Probably members were referring to absence of emotional, high pitched, glycerin-laced dialogues. Fire I thought had a very reasonable story, tight script and dialogues that were witty, apt and packed a punch (sometimes below the belt I should admit).

The photography was simple yet flawless. In my opinion one of the highlights of the movie was the background score, by who else but A.R.Rahman. Though most pieces of music were bits taken from his already popular tunes and numbers, they were used judiciously. I have the same to say about the intelligent use of silence, the blare of a distant horn, the chirp of birds, the sound waves from the radio/ music system…. All of which combined to add the realness of the movie.

The performance of the cast had to be the greatest asset of the movie. Shabana Azmi (Radha) and Nanditha Das (Sita) were superlative. But then I felt that even the two men (Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Javed Jaffrey) were pretty good. The support cast had very little to do, but did do their job appreciably well.

Opinion:

I read a view that said that sex or sexuality is very private “thing” and should not be portrayed on celluloid. Oh come on! That way what transpires between parents and children in every household is a private affair, how come no one objects to family dramas on screen. Also it is not as if the concept of lesbianism is new to India. Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra (written long before India adopted Victorian prudishness as part of its culture) has references to it. The temples of ancient India bear explicit and graphic references to its existence. We cannot close our eyes and assume it is night can we? If sex can adorn a temple wall (as if to signify its divinity) why cannot it be portrayed in a movie? I am in no way suggesting that pornography be legitimized. I am only stating that a call for a blanket ban on anything that is remotely associated with sex or sexuality will only be counter productive.

Am I happy with all aspects of FIRE, hmmm, NO! There is one issue about the movie or its theme that has bothered me ever since I had seen it a long time back and that is, is sexuality a matter of choice or is it a forced condition. Why I am saying this is because, in the movie the two lead women turn to one another as they face rejection from their respective husbands. Would they have taken to each other if their husbands were men, who provided them the required emotional or physical support? If the answer is No, then is lesbianism just an alternative for women who haven’t found good husbands? In a country where there is so little awareness about issues like sexuality, did FIRE effectively portray a message that it wished to portray? A message that talks of choices for women subjected to indifference or otherwise? Or did it come through with a message of veiled threat (to the average Indian Man “take care of your wife lest she may turn to the woman next door”).

But that not withstanding, Fire I thought was neat movie. It was a reflection of the times we live in. A time when joint family systems are crumbling, spiritual escapism is on the rise, the divide between immediate family members is widening (due to various reasons and pressures), women are recognizing that they need not continue as pushovers, alternate sexuality is gaining legitimacy and more importantly genuine love, affection and recognition is becoming hard to find that, one doesn’t really bother as to where it comes from as long as it comes.

Fire was a movie that evoked mixed emotions in India. It shocked a lot of people, enthused a few, enthralled fewer, disappointed a lot (“what was the hue and cry all about”, I heard a lot of people ask, “they ‘show’ nothing! Rs.25 gone down the drain”). But if you ask me I will recommend it to every adult Indian (edited after Lylas comment- every adult)living, if you have not already watched it, that is…