How to Watch
Includes Introduction by Writer/Director Ajitpal Singh.
Chandra and her husband, Dharam, run a homestay for tourists in a small Himalayan village, making little money. When Chandra wants to treat her paralyzed son with modern medicine and Dharam wants to pay for a ritual to remove a curse, their disagreement threatens to split the family apart.
Catering to tourists, Chandra often has to fight with other innkeepers to land guests for little profit. And mountain life has other disadvantages: their son Prakash is paralyzed, and getting him down the mountain for medical care and schooling is an enormous effort. Soon, Chandra and Dharam’s worldviews collide, as she wants her son to have medical treatment, and he wants a shaman to treat the boy, both of which cost a lot of money, and may cost them their marriage. The debut feature from writer-director Ajitpal Singh, Fire in the Mountains is a lush and heartbreaking account of a family on the edge. “[A] strident critique of globalized India…” --Anupama Chopra, Film Companion
Director Biography
Ajitpal Singh was born in Punjab, India. A self-taught filmmaker, he is the son of a former cinema hall owner, where he watched Bollywood films, and later was inspired to make movies watching Truffaut’s 400 Blows. He is the director of the short films Phir Kyon Aaj? (2003), Play Peace (2005), Mr. & Mrs. Singh (2013), Rammat-Gammat (2018) and Hummingbird (2018). Fire in the Mountains (2021) is his debut feature.
Sponsors
