Indian Movie Fire - BANNED

Fire (Hindi: Phāyar फायर) is a 1996 Indian-Canadian romantic drama film written and directed by Deepa Mehta and starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. 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). It was one of the first mainstream films in India to explicitly show homosexual relations. After its 1998 release in India, certain groups staged several protests, setting off a flurry of public dialogue around issues such as homosexuality and freedom of speech.

The protagonist duo are named as Sita and Radha. However, the twist here is the relationship that the two women share. They are sisters in law, who eventually fall in love with each other; the movie shows a lesbian relationship. The portrayal of that lesbian relationship is strong enough for the censor board to ban the film; the names of the characters being what they are, were more reason to ban it.

Indian Movie Fire - BANNED