Earth (1998 film)

1947 Earth
Directed by Deepa Mehta
Produced by Anne Masson
Deepa Mehta
Story by Deepa Mehta
Starring Aamir Khan
Rahul Khanna
Maia Sethna
Nandita Das
Narrated by Shabana Azmi
Music by A. R. Rahman
Cinematography Giles Nuttgens
Edited by Barry Farrell
Release date
  • 10 September 1999 (1999-09-10)
[1]
Running time
 101 minutes
Country Canada
India
Language Hindi
Urdu

Earth (Hindi: अर्थ) (released in India as 1947: Earth) is a 1999 Indian period 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

Critical reception

Reviews

The film holds an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews.[2] Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and states that Earth, "is effective because it doesn't require much history from its viewers, explains what needs to be known, and has a universal message."[3] The New York Times described it as "a powerful and disturbing reminder of how a civilization can suddenly crack under certain pressures."[4] 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."[5] 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 ice-candy man the way he does."[6] Planet Bollywood gave the film a 9.5 out of 10 and 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."[7]

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

1947: Earth
Soundtrack album by A. R. Rahman
Released 1998 (India)
Recorded Panchathan Record Inn
Genre Film soundtrack
Label T-Series
Producer A.R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman chronology
Dil Se..
(1998)		 1947: Earth
(1998)		 Doli Saja Ke Rakhna
(1998)

All lyrics written by Javed Akhtar; all music composed by A. R. Rahman.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Banno Rani"Sadhana Sargam4:09
2."Dheemi Dheemi"Hariharan5:16
3."Ishwar Allah"Anuradha Sriram, Sujatha Mohan5:15
4."Raat Ki Daldal Hain"Sukhwinder Singh4:05
5."Ruth Aa Gayee Re"Sukhwinder Singh5:31
6."Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain"Srinivas, Sujata Trivedi4:51
7."Yeh Jo Zindagi Hain"Srinivas, Sukhwinder Singh4:07
8."Piano Theme" (Instrumental) 1:53
9."Theme Music" (Instrumental) 4:50

References

  1. ↑ https://www.boxofficeindia.com/weekly-movies.php?movieid=2372&type_key=week_9
  2. ↑ "Earth". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1999-10-15). "Earth". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  4. ↑ Holden, Stephen (1999-09-19). "'Earth': India Torn Apart, as a Child Sees It". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  5. ↑ Gustavson, Jeff (1999-09-27). "Earth". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  6. ↑ Verma, Suparn (1999-09-10). "Breaking new ground". Rediff. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Joshi, Aniket Joshi. "Earth". Planet Bollywood. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Mehta's Earth wins acclaim at Asian festival". The Economic Times. cscsarchive.org. 11 March 1999. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
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