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Fire, a film directed by Deepa Mehta was released in 1997. This film became a focus of attention of film lovers as well as the critics from all over the world. The film was also released in Srilanka. Fire is made in English and has India as its background. The film deals with the development of a loving sexual relationship between two Indian women. A lot of controversies were involved when Deepa Mehta decided to make this film.

The extraordinary courage shown by Mehta made this film a fascinating artistic experience and she received the admiration of art lovers of the world over. Fire was the first part of a trilogy of films which Mehta decided to make in India. The second film in the series was Earth that was released in 1998. The third film is Water, which was released in 2007. Deepa Mehta faced a lot of controversies because it was said that she was dealing with various anti-Hindu issues in her film.

Fire deals with the events in the life of a Hindu family living in the suburbs of Delhi. It is a joint family where the bed-ridden mother has two sons - Ashok and Jatin.

Both the sons are married. The family owns a fast food joint and a video rental shop. Both Ashok and Jatin do not share a good relationship with their wives. Ashok is unhappy with his wife Radha because she is unable to give him children. He cuts off all physical relationship with Radha and assumes celibacy.

On the other hand, Jatin does not love his wife Sita because he is in love with a Chinese girl called Julie. He marries Sita because Julie refuses to marry him due to his joint family. Moreover he also faced pressure from his family to get married to Sita. He indulges in a sexual relationship with Sita when his brother reminds him the necessity of having a son. He reminds Sita that he is fulfilling his duty towards his family.

Due to the strange behavior of their husbands, Radha and Sita come close to each other. A relationship of love and affection develops between them. However Mundu, their servant comes to know about their relationship and spies on them. Both of them thus decide to run away from their house. Sita moves out of the house first and Radha tries to explain things to Ashok. This leads to a quarrel between them in the kitchen. Suddenly, Radha`s sari catches fire. The significance of fire comes into light from here on.

In Ramayana, Sita had to pass through the agni-pariksha to prove her chastity. Similarly, Radha has to prove her chastity to her husband. We find that Radha comes out safe though her sari is blackened and her face is smudged. Later on she goes and meets Sita as they have decided.

Thus Agni or Fire endorses a relationship, which is not traditionally accepted in class society. The writer wants to show that an honest, aesthetically appealing and spiritually rich relationship is better than a dishonest, spiritually bankrupt and traditional relationship in class society. Thus Fire is depicted here as a revolutionary god.

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