Shabana Azmi: There were a lot of controversies on the release of the film
The film ‘Fire’ (1996) is considered to be the first Bollywood film in which homosexual relationships were discussed. Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das appeared in the lead roles in it. The film was directed by Deepa Mehta. Lovemaking scenes were filmed between the two in the film. Shabana Azmi recently talked about this and said that her experience was quite difficult. However, director Deepa Mehta made things quite easy.
There were a lot of controversies on the release of the film
The film ‘Fire’ created a lot of controversies after its theatrical release. It is the first mainstream Bollywood film based on a homosexual relationship starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. In India, it released in the year 1998. There were many protests against it. The censor board passed it without cuts, it was then sent back for scrutiny. The film gave rise to a discussion about gay rights in India. Many scenes of the film were strongly criticized by political parties and other groups.
They were termed immoral, obscene and against Indian culture. Some people even claimed that the film will ‘spoil Indian women’. Recently Shabana Azmi spoke about the intimate scenes filmed with Nandita Das in the film.
This thought was disturbing me
In an interview with Radio Nasha Official, Shabana Azmi explained the reasons behind signing Deepa Mehta’s film. Shabana Azmi said, ‘When I heard the script, I liked it very much, because I knew very well that this is something that Indians do not talk about openly. They always suppress this issue. ‘Can I do this?’ More than this, the thought that was disturbing me was ‘Should I do this?’ So I was just wondering what would happen if this film gets released.
The actress said, ‘When I spoke to Javed sahab, he asked me, ‘Did you like the script?’, I said, ‘Yes’. He said, ‘Then I should do this film’. He explained to me, ‘You should know that this film will not be made without controversies, but if you think you can defend it after the film is released, then do it’.
