Deepa Mehta's Fire was the first mainstream film in Bollywood that explicitly featured homosexual relationships. Written and directed by Mehta, the erotic romantic drama film follows a lesbian couple. The film stars Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das as the lead and was released in 1996.
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In a recent interview, the veteran actress, Shabana Azmi revealed that she was uncertain about doing the movie as she felt it would be used against her. In a conversation with India Today Digital, Azmi shared that even though she liked the project she was still hesitant because she was afraid its sensitive nature would be used against her.
Shabana mentioned how she was afraid of the impact it would have on her as she was working in the slums. The actress revealed that, the husbands of the women she used to work with already thought of her as a bad influence as she would encourage them to make their own decisions. The actress told the publication:
"I felt that this would be used very heavily against me, because as it is, the husbands of the women that I was working with used to think that I was a very bad influence on them. I would ask them to make their own decisions and stuff like that."
The Arth actress, Shabana Azmi further shared how her family urged her to do the film. She recalled her husband, Javed told her that she should take on the role as it would start a conversation. She even shared how her 18-year-old stepdaughter, Zoya was her biggest supporter, reflecting on the conversation with Zoya, Azmi added:
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"I told her, ‘We were offered this, and I don’t know what to do.’ She asked, ‘Do you like the script or not?’ I said, ‘I like the script very much.’ She said, ‘Then?’ So I said, ‘But this is a subject.’ She said, ‘So?’ At 18, she said this! I thought, look at the way the young think and look at how we think. I felt moved, and I felt that this would be done sensitively, which it was done."
When the film was released in 1998 in India, it sparked a lot of controversies and protests. After running full-house for almost three weeks across 42 theatres in the country. The cinemas were attacked by protestors smashing glass panes and burning posters. One of the protestors explained their actions by saying that the protest was to maintain the natural order, and safeguard the institution of marriage and reproduction. They said:
"If women's physical needs get fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse, reproduction of human beings will stop."
The film was soon referred back for re-examination by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to the Certifying Board. Later a 17-page petition was submitted in the court by a group of film personalities and free speech activists that included Dilip Kumar and Mahesh Bhatt among others. The film was re-released in theatres in February 1999 and now is remembered as Shabana Azmi's one of the most loved works.
What are your thoughts on the film? Did Shabana Azmi make the right call? Let us know.
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