This is so far out of left field it will knock you over before you realize what's happening. It starts with a jet liner exploding in mid-air, then cuts to the lives of several people who were or will be effected by the explosion some years later. Masala is a wonderful movie containing stories that swirl around one another. A grandma who talks to The Krishna as he appears to her on TV, a modern Indian housewife exercising to workout videos, a stamp collecting postman all help make up a collage of unforgettable characters. A truly wonderful film, albeit disturbing and thought-provoking.
Fire is a devastating critique of the dynamics involved in the traditional joint-family.
The men in this film are just as trapped in their culture's expectations as the women. Fire is aptly titled, as it is emotionally searing to view. All the major characters wind up with their hearts and minds badly burned. In Hindu tradition, fire is not necessarily destructive, but transformative. The transformation in this film, however, is not necessarily what the characters expect, given their culture's parameters.