Constructions of gender,sexuality,and the family in indian religions and cultures - Movie Review Example

Deepa Mehta, a Canadian-Indian filmmaker has tackled this issue with a new dimension by producing a controversial movie, Fire. When the film was released in India in 1997, it caused a major uproar with Hindu fanatics burning down the cinemas and attacking the cast. The film story revolves around the relationship between two middle class Indian women, Radha and Sita, living in Delhi, the capital of India. The house is ‘ruled’ by the elder brother Ashok, who is also the husband of Radha. Sita is married to Jatin, younger brother of Ashok.

As per the Indian family system norms, they all live in an old joint family house running their convenience store and video rental business. Ashok is into celibacy and has rescinded from the sexual life to attain spiritual purification. He mostly keeps to himself and remains aloof from the issues faced by his wife and other family members. Unlike the traditional Indian male culture, where the head of a family is fully aware of his family’s situation and actually control the course of events, Ashok has taken a back seat.

Jatin, on the other hand, is a typical young Indian urbanite who does not take care of family rules. He is involved with a Chinese masseur and keeps this affair as a tightly guarded secret. He thinks that a wife has the only purpose of serving his husband and reproduce. Men should seek extra-marital affairs to fulfill their sexual desires. This behavior is typical of Indian men who are wary of arranged marriages. Parents arrange an overwhelming majority of marriages in India and in many cases; parents do not even ask the opinion of their children, especially daughters.

Then we have Mundu, the lone employee at the store who doubles as a domestic help. He is an aged, single person with a penchant for watching porn (that is easily available from their video store) and masturbating in front of the