Austin Chronicle .
Fire is a hothouse family melodrama with radical social underpinnings.
The lovelessness of Sita and Jatin's arranged marriage is established from the get-go, as Jatin clearly prefers the company of his vivacious, Westernized girlfriend from China who wants nothing to do with marrying into the repressive Hindu family unit. Radha and Ashok's longtime marriage suffers from their inability to conceive a child and Ashok's consequent devotion to a religious swami who teaches marital celibacy. It's within this confined world of ritual practices and social customs that the two neglected wives find companionship and sexual comfort in each other's arms. In fact, one of the issues raised by the film is that the Hindi language has no official word to describe what the two women are doing. Still, for a film with such volatile subject matter, the performances are subdued and naturalistic.