Earth

The second part of Mehta’s Elements Trilogy, Earth takes place during the traumatic Indian Partition of 1947, when the British government split their former colony into the predominantly Hindu and Sikh India and the primarily Muslim Pakistan — an ill-advised decision that opened the door to widespread sectarian violence, with an estimated 200,000 to 2 million people killed during the ensuing battles over relocation. Set in Lahore and narrated by a young girl who cannot understand the momentous events happening around her, Earth observes how the conflict over Partition plays out within a love triangle involving a beautiful young Hindu woman (Fire’s Nandita Das) and her two Muslim suitors (Bollywood/Hollywood’s Rahul Khanna and Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan). Based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Cracking India (making it the only film in the Elements Trilogy not based on Mehta’s original script), Earth is a moving and phenomenally well-crafted historical drama.