What has been the women’s reaction to your film?
They feel empowered. Lesbians, gays, blacks, expats, couples, women from oldpeople’s homes have come up to me to say that they feel strengthened. Feel they canovercome.
Why did you make Fire?
No grand design really. I did not make Fire to change others’ lives butrather to empower my own. It worked for me. Delighted it’s worked for others too.
What was the impulse behind the film?
Looking back I’d say it was my mother’s arranged match. Married this richbusinessman from Amritsar she didn’t know and would not get to know till 15 years andtwo kids later. At that point her sisters-in-law were her only friends, source ofemotional support and solace. She says if it wasn’t for them she’d have packedher bags and left within the year. Seriously, arranged marriages are a good idea but onlywhen you’re 70! Otherwise they’re death.
What was it like working on a woman’s theme as a woman director with two sensitiveactors? Were there any moments of revelation, self-discovery during the film among yoursorority?
Yes. We always tried to understand why we were saying or doing any-thing. Tounderstand a character’s inner life one had to understand one’s own. Thatprocess of examination lent the most mundane moments luminosity.
Tell us about the male characters in your film.
I love them. Ashok is my King Lear character. Such a tragic figure. Jatin typifiesyouth caught in a cleftstick: torn between tradition and individual freedom.
How do you see a film with a lesbian theme being received in India?
Obviously it will play differently in India. Fanatics might pillory me for putting twogoddesses in bed together. More open- minded rational people would see this less as alesbian film. More as a film about two lonely, oppressed, emotionally-denied peoplefinding warmth, companionship, camaraderie, refuge in one another.
