Earth (Hindi: अर्थ; released in India as 1947: Earth) is a 1999 Indian period romance drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, Cracking India (1991, US; 1992, India; originally published as Ice Candy Man, 1988, UK), set during the 1947 partition of India. Earth is the second installment of Mehta’s Elements trilogy, preceded by Fire (1996) and followed by Water (2005). It was India’s entry for the 1999 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Plot
The story is set in Lahore (now the capital of Pakistani Punjab) in the time period directly before and during the partition of India in 1947 at the time of Indian independence.
A young girl with polio, Lenny (Maia Sethna), narrates the story through the voice of her adult self (Shabana Azmi). She is from a wealthy Parsi family who hope to remain neutral to the rising tensions between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims in the area. She is adored and protected by her parents, Bunty (Kitu Gidwani) and Rustom (Arif Zakaria), and cared for by her Ayah, a beautiful Hindu woman named Shanta (Nandita Das). Both Dil Navaz, the Ice-Candy Man (Aamir Khan), and Hassan, the Masseur (Rahul Khanna) are Muslim and in love with Shanta. Shanta, Dil, and Hassan are part of a small group of friends from different faiths (some of whom work for Lenny’s family) who spend their days together in the park. With partition, however, this once unified group of friends becomes divided and tragedy ensues.
Cast
Aamir Khan – Dil Nawaz
Rahul Khanna – Hassan, the Masseur
Nandita Das – Shanta, the maid
Maia Sethna – Lenny Sethna
Shabana Azmi – older Lenny, narrator
Kitu Gidwani – Bunty Sethna
Arif Zakaria – Rustom Sethna
Kulbhushan Kharbanda – Imam Din
Kumar Rajendra – Refugee Police
Pavan Malhotra – Butcher
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.