7. Earth (1998)

Language: Hindi/English

Director: Deepa Mehta

Running time: 110 mins

Starring: Aamir Khan, Maia Sethna, Nandita Das, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Company: Cracking the Earth Films Inc.

The second part of Mehta's trilogy, based on Bapsi Sidhwa's acclaimed novel The Ice-Candy Man, is set against the backdrop of the partition of British India in 1947. The cultural fabric of pre-partition Lahore is ripped to shreds as forces of communalism test older alliances and allegiances by unleashing one of the worst bloodbaths of twentieth century. The director tests out larger issues of gender, race and South Asian cultural mores through a tale about the varying fortunes of a group of workers brought together and torn apart through affinities of class and the heart. The film manages to capture efficiently the tension in the air (intensified by a haunting soundtrack and compelling performances by members of the secondary cast) that dispels memories of friendships and affectionate propinquities in a trice and imposes its own ruthless logic of cowardice, greed and abjection on all who are touched by it.