I saw the film Fire this past Friday. Fire is a South Asian movie that explores and questions some of the archaic practices of South Asian society. The film choses to focus on sexuality and arranged marriage, and revolves around complex family dynamics. These were and still are out of the ordinary topics for a film of Indian origin to cover, and as a result created controversy in India upon its release.

The movie revolves around one extended family living together in their shop: Sita, her husband Jatin, Radha, her husband Ashok, Jatin and Radha’s mother Biji, and the family servant Mundu. Over the course of the movie it is made painfully clear that Jatin does not care for Sita, preferring his girlfriend Julie over Sita. Jatin Openly talks to Sita about his relationship with Julie and how he prefers Julie. With the other marriage Ashok’s following of a religious fanatic has ruined his marriage with Radha, with Radha being trapped in a dysfunctional relationship for most of her life. After Sita moves in, Sita and Radha comfort each other with words in the beginning, but as time goes on their relationship becomes more intimate. They begin to think of each other as lovers and support one another through the hardships of their marriage. After some time has passed since their relationship bloomed, they think about leaving their husbands who never showed even one bit of affection towards them. As Ashok found out about Radha and Sita’s relationship he was horrified, and resented Radha, even refusing to help her when her clothing caught fire. The movie ended with Radha and Sita going away together to start a new life.

I thought the film illustrated perfectly the negatives of arranged marriage. Here we see two broken marriages, with both Sita and Radha unable to do anything, Radha herself being in the marriage for decades, because the society they live in demands that they remain loyal to their husbands even if they are unaffectionate towards them. This causes them to waste so many years with someone they resent. Homosexuality is also explored in the film, in how it gave Radha and Sita the companionship and affection they had been wanting from their husbands for years. This is unacceptable in the society they lived in, and the film makes the viewer feel angry that it isn’t accepted because Sita and Radha are so happy together, happier than they had ever been in their marriages, and deserve to be together.