Veteran actress Shabana Azmi recently revealed that the climax of her popular film Fire, released in 1996, was changed on the suggestion of her step-son, actor-director Farhan Akhtar. Shabana shared this interesting information in a conversation with Vidya Balan during the Mumbai Film Festival. She told that this change proved to be important in giving a new direction to the film and Fire became a milestone in Indian cinema.

Directed and written by Deepa Mehta, this Indo-Canadian film talked about deep topics like society, identity and love. The story of the film revolves around the emotional and romantic relationship of Radha (Shabana Azmi) and Sita (Nandita Das). It was one of the first films in Indian cinema to present homosexual relationships in the mainstream.

Shabana said that before working on the sensitive subject of the film, she had consulted her family. She asked Farhan, who was very young at that time, to read the script. Shabana said, "After reading the script, Farhan said that the story is good, but Radha's death in the end will weaken the message of the whole film. People can misunderstand it. Radha should stay alive." Shabana further said, "I shared this with Deepa Mehta. She said, 'I will think about it.' And finally she presented the story with a new ending." Shabana proudly said that her family also fully supported her in this film. She also admitted that she was a little hesitant before playing the role in Fire, because at that time she was doing social work with women in the slum. She was worried that this role might have a negative impact on her. But she said that her husband, writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, inspired her. "Javed told me, 'If you can deal with this subject sensitively and tolerate the backlash, then you should do this role. Do what you believe in, don't worry about criticism.'"

Shabana also said that this film played an important role in starting an open discussion on homosexual relationships in society. She said, "I realized that a new generation looks at such subjects from a different perspective. This film broke the silence and took forward the necessary dialogues."