In the opening scenes of Fire, Sita and her new husband, Jatin, are outside the Taj Mahal. A guide is explaining how the Taj Mahal was created as a symbol of love. Sita tries to make small talk to Jatin, but he seems dismissive. She asks him “don’t you like me?”

Sita and Jatin live with Jatin’s older brother, Ashok, Ashok’s wife, Radha, and Jatin and Ashok’s grandmother, who has suffered a stroke and lost the ability to speak. The family owns a combination take-out restaurant and video rental store, where Sita and Radha work.

Most of the scenes in Fire are filmed inside the family’s home and store. The film contrasts scenes of seeming domestic tranquility with indications of deep-rooted conflict and discontent. Jatin tells his brother that he married Sita only to stop his brother’s nagging. He is also still seeing his girlfriend, Julie, and makes no attempt to hide her identity from Sita when Sita finds a picture of Julie in Jatin’s wallet.

Radha and Ashok’s marriage is similarly strained. After learning that Radha was unable to have children, Ashok took a vow of chastity.

Fire is interesting in the way that it suggests that Sita and Rahda are both alone and not alone. Both are married, but neither feel loved. The two women live in a busy household, but many scenes feature Sita and Radha alone together. And yet, even when Sita and Radha have the house otherwise to themselves, Jatin and Ashok’s grandmother is there. She cannot speak, and thus cannot tell others what they do, but she is there to observe them nonetheless.