Fire, a movie set in India, is about the relationship that develops between two women that have married into a family. Each of them is married to a brother in the family, and the film starts with Sita, joining the family after recently being married to one of the brothers. Both of the women are unhappy in their relationships, with Sita’s husband openly having a Chinese lover, and Radha, being infertile, is with a celibate husband who does not want intimacy with her. The two women find solace in each other because of their marriages and become lovers themselves.

Being one of the first Bollywood films to incorporate and emphasize a story based on a homosexual relationship, the film has even more of an impact on the viewer. It explores themes that were not accepted by many at the time, and in doing so brings to light the different viewpoints on the subject.

Personally, I believed that the film was very impactful. I thought that the way that the film developed the relationship between Sita and Radha was particularly good. The small moments that passed between them before Sita kissed Radha showed the bond that was shared between the two women. Even after that moment, when Radha was doing Sita’s hair, the relationship could be felt by the viewer, and was established as an integral part of the film. The connections between the two was largely emotional, and by setting up their backstories and showing the way that their marriages functioned, one could see the way that the two came to each other.