RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Fire
Fire

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Bookmark and Share

Fire (1996)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
86 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 21

Fresh: 18

Rotten:3

Average Rating: 6.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Sita and Radha are young Indian women whose husbands choose celibacy or mistresses over their wives. The two women become friends and grow closer together, forming a forbidden but liberating... Sita and Radha are young Indian women whose husbands choose celibacy or mistresses over their wives. The two women become friends and grow closer together, forming a forbidden but liberating relationship. A lush, passionate story of emancipation and love, in a closed society. Major controversy led this movie to be widely attacked and banned in India. [More]

Starring: Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Jaaved Jaaferi

Starring: Shabana Azmi, Nandita Das, Kulbushan Kharbanda, Jaaved Jaaferi, Ranjist Chowdry, Kushal Rekhi

Director: Deepa Mehta

Director: Deepa Mehta
Producer: Bobby Bedi, Deepa Mehta

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jul 11, 2000

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Deepa Mehta’s tender, passionate and controversial love story of two Indian women torn between their devotion to duty and their desire for love and companionship. Radha has been a consummate wife for fifteen years but her husband is seeking spiritual enlightenment through celibacy. Her sister-in-law Sita is similarly frustrated by her new husband, who spends his nights with his mistress. Deprived of their husbands’ affections, the two women draw closer together in ways neither ever imagined.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Fire

    • T-Meter Critics
    • Top Critics
    • RT Community
    • My Critics
    • My Friends
    • DVD
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 >> >|
    Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
     
     
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    03/26/09
    Brendan Kelly
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Fire lights its spark beautifully

    Full Review Source: Perihelion Journal | comment Comment
    08/21/06
    Jay Antani
    Perihelion Journal

    should spark interest in India's modern culture even if it doesn't satisfy those who think a lesbian love affair should burn more explicitly

    Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
    05/06/06
    John A. Nesbit
    Old School Reviews
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    01/26/06
    Time Out
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    06/14/05
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
    10/28/03
    James Berardinelli
    ReelViews
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Although the acting is pleasant enough, the script by the director suffers from a paucity of ideas. His characters are handsomely outlined but never adequately filled in.

    Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment 4 Comments
    07/24/02
    Steve Rhodes
    Internet Reviews

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
    04/12/02
    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    One of the most powerful achievements of Fire is to represent a form of desire which is not an escape, but a political challenge.

    Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
    03/05/02
    Rachel Malik
    Sight and Sound

    A compelling drama set in India about the boundlessness of desire.

    Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
    03/02/02
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Spirituality and Practice

    A sensuous visual experience, thanks to the collaboration between cinematographer Giles Nuttgens and Mehta.

    Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Bruce Kirkland
    Jam! Movies

    More soap opera than anything else, full of wringing of hands and lots and lots of talking.

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Christopher Null
    Filmcritic.com

    Audacious, yet sensitive, Fire may shock traditionalists but might well win Indian cinema a whole new audience.

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    David Parkinson
    Empire Magazine
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Gemma Files
    eye WEEKLY

    Mehta's direction of her unusually intimate film is delicate. The acting is notably good, especially from Azmi.

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Jeff Millar
    Houston Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Works because it doesn't come off as a lofty diatribe but actually mixes humor with its pathos.

    Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Joe Baltake
    Sacramento Bee

    Fire may be a film, but its story of frustrated desires, love-starved women and the stifling bonds of tradition makes it resemble one of those fat best-selling novels that can fill a summer day at the beach with hours of undemanding pleasure.

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Lawrence Van Gelder
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Fire's flat-out depiction of average middle-class existence in New Delhi is eye-opening.

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Marjorie Baumgarten
    Austin Chronicle

    The pieces don't all work perfectly, but the whole is gently affecting.

    comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Mary Brennan
    Film.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Speaks tellingly about individual freedom for women versus social expectations and arranged marriages.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    01/01/00
    Peter Stack
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 >> >|
    See More Topics...

    Related Forums for Fire

    Click here to be the first to post a message on this forum.

    See All

    More DVDs

    Close
    Top Rentals
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    79%
    79%
    Gran Torino
    30%
    30%
    12 Rounds
    23%
    23%
    Confessions of a Shopa…
    —
    The Code
    39%
    39%
    Inkheart

    More Rentals…

    New On DVD This Week
    Tomatometer Percentage Movie
    22%
    22%
    Push
    12%
    12%
    The Unborn

    More New Releases…

    RT On Current TV

    What’s Hot On RT

    Deconstructing Harry

    Deconstructing Harry

    Pt. 3: Cuaron's darker Prisoner of Azkaban

    Best Mockumentaries

    Best Mockumentaries

    From Borat to Spinal Tap, this one goes to 11

    Humpday Clip

    Humpday Clip

    An exclusive peek at the indie comedy!

    Half-Blood Prince

    Half-Blood Prince

    How good is the 6th Harry Potter?

    Other News

    Close
    • Top Stories
    • Popular
    • Interviews
     
     

    Comments

     
     
    Top Stories
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Weekly Ketchup: T.J. Hooker Film in Development
    20
    • Warners Shortens Green Lantern Wishlist Source: Hollywood Reporter
    96
    • Harold Ramis Talks Ghostbusters 3 Source: MakingOf.com
    32
    • Spider-Man 4 Gets Its Third Writer Source: Latino Review
    60
    • Warners Wins Favorable Ruling in Superman Case Source: Variety
    18
    • Remo Williams Rides Again Source: Risky Biz
    10
    • Mortal Kombat 3 Filming in September? Source: Slashfilm
    82
    • MacGruber Gets a Director Source: Variety
    39
    • PG-13 Turns 25 Source: VideoETA
    8
    • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
    92
    Popular
    Headlines Comments
      
    • Deconstructing Harry, Day 1: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    67
    • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Transformers and Ice Age Tie for Top Spot
    59
    • Deconstructing Harry, Day 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    52
    • Weekly Ketchup: Universal Takes on Asteroids
    46
    • Total Recall: Mock Docs That Rock
    42
    • Critics Consensus: Bruno is Certified Fresh
    41
    • Five Favorite Films with Kathryn Bigelow
    39
    • RT on DVD: Knowing, Push, The Unborn Unleashed
    26
    • Five Favourite Films with Jaime Winstone
    19
    • Deconstructing Harry, Day 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    18
    Interviews
    Headlines Comments
      
    • RT Interview: Director Carlos Cuaron on Rudo and Cursi
    0
    • RT Interview: Tony Scott on The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
    10
    • Cannes 2009: RT Interview - Sally Hawkins on We Want Sex
    2
    • RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
    5
    • Hollywood Legend Debbie Reynolds Reflects On her Life in Showbiz
    10
    • Exclusive: McG Talks Terminator Salvation
    24
    • Georgia Groome - Fresh Talent on RT
    5
    • RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
    11
    • RT Interview: Oscar Nominee Melissa Leo
    7
    • Carey Mulligan - Fresh Talent on RT
    7
     
     

    Sponsored Links

    Around The Network

    • Fire at Rotten Tomatoes

    Fresh Links

    Featured
    Point-Counterpoint: Bruno
    Point-Counterpoint: Bruno External Link

    MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.

    The New Cult Canon
    The New Cult Canon External Link

    The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.

    Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles
    Tom Cruise's 10 Best Roles External Link

    TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.

    A Baywatch Comedy?
    A Baywatch Comedy? External Link

    BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.

     
     
    About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
    IGN Logo

    IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
    TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
    AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


    By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
    Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
    IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
    Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.