''Earth'' ( hi, पृथ्वी; released in India as ''1947: Earth'') is a 1999 Indo-Canadian period romance

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Deepa Mehta Deepa Mehta, (; born 1 January 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), and ''Water'' (2005). ''Earth'' was submitted by India as its official ...

. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, ''

Cracking India ''Cracking India'', (1991, U.S., 1992, India; originally published as ''Ice Candy Man'', 1988, England) is a novel by author Bapsi Sidhwa. Summary Setting: Lahore Time: 1943 - 1948 This novel is generally referred to as a story about the Part ...

'' (1991, US; 1992, India; originally published as ''Ice Candy Man'', 1988, UK), set during the 1947

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

. ''Earth'' is the second instalment of Mehta's Elements trilogy, preceded by ''

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...

'' (1996) and followed by ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

'' (2005). It was India's entry for the 1999

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

Plot

The story is set in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

(now the capital of Pakistani Punjab) in the time period directly before and during the

in 1947 at the time of Indian independence. A young girl with

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...

, Lenny (Maia Sethna), narrates the story through the voice of her adult self (

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

). She is from a wealthy

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family who hope to remain neutral to the rising tensions between

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The ter ...

, and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in the area. She is adored and protected by her parents, Bunty ( Kitu Gidwani) and Rustom (

Arif Zakaria Arif Zakaria (born 11 November 1966) is an Indian actor. He has had roles in many films, beginning with his debut film ''Darmiyaan'' (1997), ''1947 Earth'' (1998), ''Dance like a man'' (2004), and biographical projects '' Mardana'' and the contr ...

), and cared for by her Ayah, named Shanta (

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), '' Earth'' (1998), ''Bawandar'' (2000), ''Kannathil Muthamittal'' ...

). Both Dil Navaz, the Ice-Candy Man (

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

), and Hassan, the Masseur (

Rahul Khanna Rahul Khanna (born 20 June 1972) is an Indian actor, VJ and writer who works in Bollywood. He is the older son of actor turned politician Vinod Khanna and the older brother of Akshaye Khanna. Early life and background Khanna was born and rai ...

) 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.

Cast

– Dil Nawaz *

– Hassan, the Masseur *

– Shanta, the maid * Maia Sethna – Lenny Sethna *

– older Lenny, narrator * Kitu Gidwani – Bunty Sethna *

– Rustom Sethna * Kulbhushan Kharbanda – Imam Din * Kumar Rajendra – Refugee Police * Pavan Malhotra – Butcher

Critical reception

Reviews

The film holds an 86% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 35 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

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 ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described it as "a powerful and disturbing reminder of how a civilization can suddenly crack under certain pressures." ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' 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 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."

Awards and nominations

Asian Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first held in Toky ...

– Best Film Award *

Filmfare Best Male Debut Award The Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films to recognise a performance by a male actor in a debut role. List of winners 1980s *1989 Aamir Khan – ''Qayamat Se Qayamat ...

–

* Filmfare Best Female Debut Award –

* ''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.

Soundtrack

References

External links

*
Official trailer
* {{Authority control 1999 films 1999 romantic drama films Indian romantic drama films 1990s Hindi-language films English-language Indian films Films based on American novels Films directed by Deepa Mehta Films set in 1947 Films set in Lahore Films about religious violence in India Films set in the partition of India Films set in the Indian independence movement Films scored by A. R. Rahman