4. Fire (1996)
A 1996, Indo-Canadian erotic drama by Deepa Mehta is also the first of its trilogy; Fire (1996), Earth (1998) and Water (2005). This film is one of the earliest which depicted homosexual love explicitly and seriously. Sita, played by Nandita Das, marries into an Indian family based in New Delhi, and meets Radha played by Shabana Azmi. The women in the household find themselves frustrated and lonely and find respite in each other’s arms. Homosexuality is treated as a disease in our society even today, when love has finally won the battle in the Supreme Court. Back in 1996, Mehta’s bold storytelling around this subject provoked a lot of “right” minds which threw the film into a disarray. However, it was rereleased uncut later.
