Takethispunch 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 who 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.

gradyharp Deepa Mehta has such a commanding presence in her films that she is able to leave her audience both educated and devastated by her stories and by the ingenious ways in which she tells them. EARTH is a magnificent example of her gifts and while it may not be as visually luxurious or as touching as her subsequent WATER, it is a fine film that not only depicts a troubled time in India's history, but also informs us of the intricacies of how people relate to each other - first as humans, second as religious sects.The film has at its heart the year 1947 when India was given its independence from Great Britain and at the same time bifurcated into two countries - India and Pakistan. The story opens with a tranquil park picnic in Lahore where friends - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsee - while away the afternoon in camaraderie. Only slight overtones of edgy topics about religion mar the conversation until the topic focuses on the incipient split of the country into two countries. Each of the friends represents each of the religious sects and it is how these differences, at once unimportant to friendship, end up in separating the friends under the influence of the devastation of bloodshed that follows the division of the country and the displacement of millions of people, all under the guise of independence.There is a strong love story, a committed crippled child who experiences all of the happiness and subsequent tragedy that is to follow and the story ends with some words of wisdom by the grown little girl reflecting on choices made, and other sidebars that maintain interest at every frame.The acting is first rate from a beautiful cast and Mehta's direction makes this tale of change whir by the viewer. For those not educated in the differences of the four religious sects of Hindu, Parsee, Muslim, and Sikh the tale can become confusing: would that Mehta would have included a discussion about the film in an added feature the way she helped us understand the plight of widows in WATER. And the subtitles unfortunately do not translate the English spoken portions of the film, portions that while very important to the story are nearly indecipherable due to the accents of the characters speaking.But these are minor quibbles in a film that pleads for repeated viewings, so beautiful is the movie and so very important is the message. Highly Recommended.

Tom Murray Torontonian director, Deepa Mehta, planned to make three films, Fire, Earth and Water, all set and filmed in India, her native land. The first film was very controversial in India, reviled by Hindu extremists of the fundamentalist, right-wing Shiv Sena sect, who rioted, tore down posters and even burned one of the movie theatres that was showing it, all because the film showed wives disobeying their husbands and a lesbian relationship. There was great concern when Earth was made but little happened. However, when the third film, Water was being made, renewed rioting caused the Indian government to order the filming stopped and the film was never made.Earth concerns a small group of students in what is now Lahore, Pakistan but was then part of India. They represented several religions: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsee and Christian. They are willing to accept each other despite their religious differences. When India is partitioned into India and Pakistan, there is a massive movement of people in both directions. Some fanatics started attacking those of different religions and the violence escalated to massacres. The friends, who thought that they would always be friends, found that destiny would not allow it.

maverickagk I would not go into the details about the story. The brief description: story is about Dilnawaz, Lenny baby, Ayah and Hassan, four people and their experiences at the time of partition (one the most devastating events ever happened in the world)Six reasons why you should watch this movie:1. Aamir Khan's stunning portrayal of the character Dilnawaz. He brings the character to life. In the films's first half you can find some grey shades in the character. But in the second half the character becomes black. And this transformation is shown by aamir brilliantly. 2. Authenticity of the film. The setting of the film looks so real that you don't have to go into some imagination to feel what Lahore was like then 3. Musical score by A.R.Rahman. Both background score and songs fit into the film well. Especially the rut agayire, raat ki dal dal and yeh jo zindagi song 4. Direction of Deepa Mehta. Deepa Mehta has come long way after fire. Fire was not made for wider audiences. But this film is related to the universal concept which is religious conflicts. I salute her for making the film neither anti-Muslim nor anti-Hindu or anti-Sikh. This film shows that it was everybody's mistake. I also admire her for putting some scenes like Lenny and his friend meet a boy whose mother was raped (superb scene). 5. Wonderful depiction of the character Lenny baby by young actress Maia sethna. Especially at the movie's end. 6. A disturbing train scene and climax of the movie. The two scenes will haunt you for many years. They are so disturbing scenes that you will have sleepless nights. really mind numbingI rate this movie 9/10.