Redundant and unnecessary.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It's a story told in two different time periods of two different woman who are attached by decision taken by both of them in there lives. Both the era generated by director with there details are mesmerizing, but modern day India dulls against the British one as there are many clichés that are shown which exist till today among western countries about India. Period films are mastered by merchant ivory production and this one of the finest examples of it. We are captured by the brilliant photography and then by the characters etched by screenwriter and director. Greta schahi proves her mettle in her first major role and Julie Christie is just as natural as always. Casting of every little character is perfect. Best thing is the way story is told, how two era become one and how easily is one moving from one to other.modern day story dulls little bit against raj era one but it is saved by Julie Christie's beautiful presence. Certain question arise and they are answered beautifully. How we get in a relationship with someone who is so different from us culturally and in every way, is it just the avaibality or something more ? Human mind is such an intriguing place to understand. Why we take certain steps always remains a question. Just like the character of chid. Who is running away from world yet is attached to it.

This visually beautiful and deeply poignant story about love and desire in colonial India is one of Merchant Ivory's most overlooked and underrated films.Telling the somewhat similar stories of two women from two different time periods.Heat and Dust presents us with two different views of India from the prejudiced British Raj rule of the 1920's to the tourist and spiritual hot spot of the 1980's.It's based on a novel written by the third member of the Merchant Ivory team the screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.As in their previous films in Heat and Dust we find the usual mix of exquisite period detail,memorable performances and a well crafted story.Beginning in the grandeur of 1920's India,Heat and Dust tells the story of young British woman Olivia Rivers(Greta Scacchi)who has joined her husband,The Assistant District Collector Douglas Rivers(Christopher Cazenove)out in the stifling heat of India.Although deeply in love with Douglas Olivia soon finds herself falling in love with the handsome local ruler The Nawab(Shashi Kapoor).The performance of Kapoor is the highlight of the film a brilliant blend of intellect,ruthless power and English manners,breeding and bearing.Intercut with Olivia's story is that of her sisters granddaughter Anne(Julie Christie)who is researching Olivia's story after becoming intrigued by the series of intimate and revealing letter she wrote to her sister concerning her time in India.Although both time periods are distinctively separate one man is present in both and that is the Nawab and Olivia's closest friend Harry Hamilton Paul(Nickolas Grace)who Anne interviews at his home in England in the 80's.He tells her more about the forbidden love affair that began between his two friends.As Anne travels to India to see the places mentioned in her relatives letters she begins a similar story of her own.She has an affair with and Indian and falls pregnant but also like Olivia she finds the strength to live independent,away from the restraints and expectations of the masses.One of the best supporting performances comes from the fantastic Madhur Jaffery as Begum Mussarat Jahan,the Nawab's mother.She holds court at the palace taking long drags from her elegant cigarette holder,scoffing at the English and their inabilities to adapt to the stifling climate,she's a perfect mix of bile,humour and anger.With beautiful costumes and locations Heat and Dust is one of those films the team made so easily and so well,a visual yearning for another time with different values and morals.In a word this is sheer perfection,and a highlight in the careers of the late(and much missed)Cazenove,Scacchi and Kapoor.

Excellent film, maybe Merchant-Ivory's best. The story is wonderfully compelling. I love how the lives of the two British women are linked together. It's fascinating to see how differently they were treated by falling in love an Indian at different times in the same century. Great roles for Julie Christie and Greta Scaachi to play in this beautiful and poetic film. It's filled with great character parts for the English and Indian people surrounding them. Lots of food for thought, the film touches on the traditions and ways of life of both cultures showing how trapped people could be. There are some funny incidents when the cultures clash. The end brings both sadness and hope. A very underrated film that deserves to be seen and remembered!

I just discovered this movie, which I must have missed when it was originally released. I am a big fan of Greta Scacchi since I saw her in "White Mischief" and I just lately admired Julie Christie in "Away from her". In the eighties, I went myself on an exploration trip through India and have been fascinated with this country forever. I was really looking forward to see the movie.I was a little bit amused to see Greta Scacchi again cast in the role of the adulterous wife in colonial times. In White Mischief, she decides first against poor Hughes Grant and marries a much older wealthy man, only to fall later for a dashing tall British officer in Kenya. In "Heat and Dust", she, playing Olivia is happily married to the dashing tall British officer but cannot resist a pompous wealthy Indian prince. I wonder if casting directors think that beauties like Greta have to be the toys of rich men? While Greta is constantly naked in "White Mischief" there is only one half nude scene in "Heat and Dust" and she is not yet quite as stunning as she is in "White Mischief". However, her character dominates above the character of Julie Christie and not only because of her beauty. The movie's charm is supposed to be the juxtaposition of the India in the 1920s versus the India in the 1980s. Julie Christie, as Ann explores the life of her great-ant, Olivia, who scandalously left her husband for the Indian nawab, but ended up living alone in the Himalayas... Both women fall for Indian men and both get pregnant. Olivia decides to abort the child, as she is not sure if it is her husbands or the nawab's child. The movie is filmed at the same locations. In the colonial times everything looks splendid and well maintained, in the eighties things have deteriorated . But all in all it gives an interesting insight in Indian life.Maybe the more exotic and luxurious costumes and decorations in the 1920segments make this part of the movie more memorable. The affairs in-between the British women and the Indian men are only sketchily shown, but it is made clear that they were as unacceptable in the 20s as they were in the 80s by both sides. The Indian society is governed by even more rules than the British one. This was Greta Scacchi first major film out of drama school , but she leaves a much stronger impression than Julie Christie, who took this role over a better paying offer for another film. Definitely, a very beautiful and entertaining film and worth while to have in a DVD collection.