FW: Deepa Mehta's _Fire_

[Michael Rabe]

In public response to Fran Pritchett's very helpful private note to me:

>Indology is not nearly as good a place for FIRE discussion as SASIALIT.  Are
>you familiar with this second listserv?  It HAS in fact been discussing FIRE
>in a lively way in recent weeks.  Why not join?  If you want joining info, I
>can send it as soon as I get back to NYC (early next week).

Yours cordially,
Fran Pritchett
******************

Thanks again, Fran,  for alerting me to the SAsiaLit  listserv, and
especially to the archives [since I barely have time to keep up with a
couple other lists as it is] .  It took me parts of several days to go
through all 50 postings on the "Fire" thread at:

        http://is.rice.edu/~riddle/play/sasialit/

And I look forward to tackling the "God of Small Things" thread next, once
I've finished parceling out its delectable pages in tiny midnight-snacks.

Assuming that a few out there can benefit from this information about the
video's availability, in the US it's distributed by New Yorker Films:
http://www.newyorkerfilms.com/
 They offer an 800 #, but no price is posted.

It's said to be "still" relatively expensive though at amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567301568/qid=915715999/sr=1-62/002-
1806666-6159455
  Fire (1997)      |    List Price: $94.98  |   Our Price: $80.73        |
You Save: $14.25 (15%)
 _Why is this video so expensive?   It was priced by the studio for the
rental market. The price often drops to under  $30 within 6 months of its
video release date. When the studio lowers the price of the movie, we'll
adjust its price in our store. But if you love it, and want it  now, we
want you to have it. Enjoy!  Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours._

Perhaps someone can let the list know if the video is available for legal
purchase in India for a lesser price, and where.   Two final notes of
interest I learned from the Rice University-hosted SAsiaLit archive:
        1)there's an online journal focused on South Asian gay and lesbian
issues, called Trikone-- it contains an extensive interview with the
director: "Burning Bright: A Conversation with Deepa Mehta about Fire"  by
Ginu Kamani at:   http://www.trikone.org/articles/oct97.htm

        2) For the India release, Deepa Mehta took a half-stab at caution
by changing the Nandita Das character's name to Neeta [from the
plot-synchronous Sita].  Didn't do much good, obviously, and it was sad see
in a recent _India Today_ that's she's more or less abandoning the
completion of a trilogy, the final installments of which [well underway]
are called _Water_ [set in Benares] and _Earth_.  A Shame.

Michael Rabe
SXU & SAIC, Chicago

P.S. Deepa Metha in that Trikone interview expresses amazement that there's
a London-based fan club, website, t-shirts, et al,  for the film's houseboy
character, Mondu
 :^)