1998 Film Earth

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 instalment 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.

1947 Earth
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Deepa Mehta
Story by	Deepa Mehta
Based on	Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa
Produced by	Anne Masson Deepa Mehta
Starring	Aamir Khan Rahul Khanna Nandita Das Maia Sethna
Narrated by	Shabana Azmi
Cinematography	Giles Nuttgens
Edited by	Barry Farrell
Music by	A. R. Rahman
Release dates	11 September 1998 (Canada) 10 September 1999 (1999-09-10) (India)
Running time	101 minutes
Countries	Canada India
Language	Hindi

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, named Shanta (Nandita Das). Both Dil Navaz, the Ice-Candy Man (Aamir Khan), and Hassan, the Masseur (Rahul Khanna) are 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.

• 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
• Sardar - Gulshan Grover

Reviews

The film holds an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 reviews. 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". 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 ice-candy man the way he does". Planet Bollywood gave the film a 9.5 out of 10 and wrote 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".

Awards and nominations

• Asian Film Festival – Best Film Award
• Filmfare Best Male Debut Award – Rahul Khanna
• Filmfare Best Female Debut Award – Nandita Das
• Earth was India's official entry for the 71st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1999, but was not included among the final five nominees selected by the AMPAS.

• List of Asian historical drama films