Harish Khanna

Two urbane brothers witness a baby being kidnapped from an impoverished mother at a railway station in rural India. One guided by moral duty, convinces the other to help the mother and join a perilous investigation to find the baby. In the wee morning hours at a remote railway station, a chance encounter changes the lives of a few young people forever. Gautam is there to pick up his brother Raman for an extravagant destination wedding. The relationship between the two brothers is already tenuous at best, and the thin veneer of familial love is further challenged when they chance upon Jhumpa Mahato. An already broken woman with little to her name, Jhumpa is beside herself with panic when she wakes from her slumber to discover her infant daughter missing. A series of unfortunate incidents embroil the two brothers into Jhumpa's pitiful endeavour to be reunited with her young child. This perilous journey through the unforgiving hinterlands thrusts the young men out of their sheltered existence, compelling them to confront the harshness of reality. The Bansal brothers and Jhumpa are forced to navigate the dark underbelly of society, testing their resilience, trust, and ultimately, their humanity. The film does not shy from the inequalities and mistrust that pervade our world but also draws attention to the unyielding strength of the human spirit. Amidst the heart-pounding action and survival struggles, deeper themes of motherhood, classism, xenophobia, and a disillusionment with the system emerge, adding layers of complexity to the narrative. —Karan Tejpal

A UK-based Muslim man, Jay, takes a trip to Pakistan, where he kidnaps a young Muslim woman, Samira, for money. However, she, willingly, comes with him as she was being forced into a loveless marriage. As the police investigates Samira's disappearance, they, both, stay on the run. What follows is a rocky, yet adventurous journey to India.

A story about identical twins, in their early twenties, hoping to leave the squalor behind and move into a life of prosperity and dignity. But the similarity ends here. Inter cut between are the parallel stories of the brothers as they run to protect themselves, their dreams and their loves. Until a point where it converges and the brothers meet to realize that they only have each other.

Parmino is a small village in Central India, headed by a Village Committee comprising of all males. When the Government of India notifies the Committee that a third of them must be women, including people in schedules caste and tribes, the Sarpanch, Ratan Singh, decides to let women run for the election as well have seats in the Panchayat. After the meeting gets over, he asks his son, Inder, to get Manju, his wife, to sign the nomination papers. Also asked are the wife of another Panchayat member, as well as Vidya, the newly marred bride of a poor store owner, Bhanwar, who is indebted to Inder and Ratan Singh. In this way, Ratan and Inder hope to control the women through their respective husbands, and rule over the Panchayat as they have done before. They are in for a surprise when Vidya turns the tables on them, asking them to account where the funds for the partially built school were misappropriated as well having the rest of the village attend Gram Panchayat meetings and voice their concerns and grievances. Watch what happens when Ratan and Inder decide to use their influence in the community as well as over Bhanwar to throttle Vidya's voice. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)