Earth (1998 film)
Earth released in India as 1947 Earth is a 1998 Indian period drama film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwas novel, Cracking India, 1991, U.S. 1992, India originally published as Ice Candy Man, 1988, England. Earth is the second installment of Mehtas Elements trilogy. It was preceded by Fire 1996 and followed by Water 2005. It was Indias entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
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 hopes 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 is cared for by her Ayah, a beautiful Hindu woman, Shanta Nandita Das. Both Dil Navaz, the IceCandy 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 Lennys family who spend their days together in the park. With partition, however, this once unified group of friends becomes divided and tragedy ensues.Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and states that Earth, is effective because it doesnt require much history from its viewers, explains what needs to be known, and has a universal message. The New York Times described it as a powerful and disturbing reminder of how a civilization can suddenly crack under certain pressures. The New Yorker argues that, Deepa Mehta handles her material convincingly, and the cast is so likable that they wear the larger themes like beautiful garments. Rediff.com notes that, Aamir Khan has probably given the best performance of his life. It is hard to imagine another actor bringing alive the nuances of the icecandy man the way he does. Planet Bollywood gave the film a 9.5 out ofand stated that, Earth is strongly recommended to those who want to see a different type of Hindi film and who are tired of the usual boy meets girl stories and revenge dramas. ........
Source: Wikipedia
