Fire

Awards

• No award information available.

Trivia

Album

• This was the first film of director Deepa Mehta's Elements trilogy. The other films in the series were "1947 Earth" (1999) and "Water" (2007). All three films had music composed by A.R. Rahman.[1][2]
• The tracks "Julie's Theme" and "Chinatown" were not used in the film.
• This film was simultaneously released in English and Hindi.
• This film was inspired by the Urdu short story "Lihaaf" by Ismat Chughtai. First published in 1942, the story had attracted a lot of criticism for purportedly depicting lesbianism. Charges of obscenity were filed against her for this story and against Saadat Hasan Manto for his story "Bu". After a year-long trial in Lahore, in which the two writers defended themselves, both Chughtai and Manto were acquited. The film "Dedh Ishqiya" (2014) was also inspired by "Lihaaf".[3][4]
• This film was released outside India in 1996 but got a theatrical release in India only in 1998. Perhaps anticipating objections to it, the name of one of the lead characters was changed from Sita to Nita in the version of the film released in India. Despite this change, several Hindu organizations, Shiv Sena primary among them, protested against the film's release objecting to the parallels between the film's characters and Hindu gods. The film's screening was disrupted in several theatres across India. The film was debated in the parliament and was sent back to the Censor Board for another review. In response, Deepa Mehta, supported by many film personalities including Dilip Kumar, filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the film's re-release. The film was eventually passed by the CBFC again without any cuts.[5][6]
• This was the debut film of actress Nandita Das.

Song

• Bombay Theme Finale & Radha's Soul - This track was originally recorded as the theme music of the Tamil film "Bombay" (1995) by A.R. Rahman.

1. ^ 1947 Earth (1999)
2. ^ Water (2007)
3. ^ Google celebrates Ismat Chughtai
4. ^ Dedh Ishqiya (2014)
5. ^ What is shame?
6. ^ Fire creates a furore