"Fearsome" Fire grates on "touchy" conventional nerves

CHANDIGARH, Dec 6: A passionate kiss between two lovers betokening a deep emotional bond ... but with a difference. The lovers are two wo...

CHANDIGARH, Dec 6: A passionate kiss between two lovers betokening a deep emotional bond … but with a difference. The lovers are two women. Deepa Mehta’s Fire revolves around two sisters-in-law, Radha and Nita (Sita in the original version), both stuck in bad marriages who find an escape of sorts in a lesbian relationship.

Their affair blossoms within their urban middle class home, initially creating not a single ripple in conventional proprieties. But "fire" did burst out … in the streets in front of cinema halls in

noopener" target="_blank">Delhi and Maharashtra. Slogan-shouting agitators have demanded that the film be banned and now the Government of India has directed the Board of Film Censors to review the film and reconsider permission for screening. Fearing adverse consequences the cinema halls have stopped the screening of the movie.

Describing this move as "correct", C. L. Bakshi, a retired government employee, termed the movie "meaningless" and asked, "What does Deepa Mehta want to show. The movie is totally inconsistent with India’s cultural ethos and depicts the sickness of lust which should be discarded by all means".

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A bubbly Neha Verma, a second year Arts student watched the movie with her mother and seemed pretty comfortable with the theme. "The movie shatters the hypocrisy that characterises many Indian marriages. Radha and Nita chose one way out," opinioned Neha. As for Indian lesbians, "They exist; it is happening; accept it. We should be more bothered about crimes like rape".

A young computer student, Rajan Chaddha deplored the movie as "trying to justify a lesbian relationship. The director should criticise homosexual relationships rather than championing these." He was glad that the screening of the movie had been stopped.

Rita Mahajan, an electronics engineer liked the theme of the movie but found the bedroom scenes "a little heavy to digest. The storyline ran parallel with Ramayana … that could have been avoided." She opposed the protests and said that freedom of expression should apply to cinema and people should have a right to see it if they wanted to.

A journalist by profession, R. K. Bali, thought the movie "unsuitable for Indians" but added, "I don’t doubt that such things happen but a film like Fire needs a mature audience". As for the ban, he asked: "Why ban it now? Everybody has seen it".

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Rekha Sharma who majored in Economics termed the movie "a satire" on India’s male-dominated society. "The demand to ban the movie shows how narrow-minded and biased people can get. The theme was excellent and an eye-opener for many".