Nandita Das

A quantum physicist competes for the chance to reunite with his long-lost father-across time.

A remake of the 1980s eponymous film, it is a take on anger and helplessness of the common man. When Albert leaves his house one morning without telling anyone his whereabouts, his girlfriend Stella files a complaint with the police and when he doesn`t return after days, she begins to worry. Albert is traversing a road journey from Mumbai to Goa. His anger stems from his certain life experiences. It is this anger that is taking him on a journey to settle a score and enable him to lead a life of dignity and hope.

Set in the rural areas of Kutch, Gujarat, the story of Dhaad is based on the life of Ghelo, an impotent man and his desperate search for water, his lost land, and a child. In his endeavor to prove his conviction that the rich and powerful can only be contained by asserting power over them, Ghelo forcibly involves his friend, Pranjivan in a raid over the landlord's wealth. During the raid, the landlord's pregnant daughter challenges Ghelo and slowly his conviction begins to fade away. His strength is drained and he suffers a fatal paralysis stroke.

A English spice baron settles in South India during the waning years of the Raj. Malayalam-speaking T.K. Neelan (Rahul Bose), Rajat (Lal), Manas (Indrajith Sukumaran), and his sister, Sajani (Nandita Das), live in Kalpetta Township in Kerala, India, during the British Raj. As children, they used to play in the woods where Manas and T.K. used to play Bhagwan Shri Ram and Shri Lakshman, respectively, and rescue Sita (Sajani) from Lord Ravan's (Rajat's) clutches. Now the year is 1937, all are grown up, while Manas is a laborer, Sajani is married to Rajat, and T.K. works for his British employer, Henry Moores (Linus Roache), who lives there with his wife, Laura (Jennifer Ehle), and their son, Peter (Leopold Benedict). Sajani is also employed as a maidservant in the Moores household. T.K.'s headmaster asks him to join the freedom movement and ask the British to quit India, but T.K. feels that India has made a lot of progress under the British rule and they should continue with this partnership. His headmaster cautions him that partnership is only between equals, but T.K. disregards this, and it is this attitude that will compel him to re-examine his way of thinking when he finds out that Henry is having a steamy affair with Sajani. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

May 9th, 1989, London. Kiranjit is accused of intentionally setting fire to her husband Deepak. Deepak ran down the stairs and ended up in the front lawn, where somebody noticed him and called the ambulance. In the hospital, Deepak states that Kiranjit tried to kill him. The police constable O'Connell (Nicholas Irons) arrests Kiranjit based on evidence & send her to prison. Deepak's room had a vat of oil which was poured on him before setting him on fire. During interrogation, Kiranjit admits that she only wanted to hurt Deepak as he had hurt her previously. In prison, Kiranjit has to deal with the trauma of giving up all her jewelry including her Kada and her Mangalsutra. She is then forced to strip naked in front of a prison female guard to change into prison clothes. Before trial the UK court assign Kiranjit a lawyer Miriam Taylor (Rebecca Pidgeon) who wants to understand the motivation behind Kiran's actions. Kiranjit Ahluwalia (Aishwarya Rai), a Punjabi woman, marries Deepak Ahluwalia (Naveen Andrews) in an arranged marriage and moves to South Hall, UK with him to be closer to his family. Initially he seems caring and affectionate towards her but soon enough the true colors of her husband begin to show as Deepak gradually reveals a darker, threatening, and even Sociopathic side of himself. Deepak won't allow Kiran to wear western clothes and would beat for dancing with his friend Ravi (Ray Panthaki) at weddings, which Deepak himself insisted. Charged with attempted murder, her case comes to the notice of a group of South Asian social workers running an underfunded organization called the Southall Black Sisters. Radha Dalal (Nandita Das) from the Black Sisters visits Kiran in prison to understand her case. Jamila (Shaheen Khan) and Asha (Karen David) are Radha's colleagues. Deepak dies from his injuries in the hospital, turning it into a murder case. Kiran tells Radha that she feels freer in prison that she ever did in 10 years of marriage to Deepak. After enduring ten years of abuse and having two children with him, Kiranjit, unable to bear the brutality and repeated sexual assaults at the hands of her husband any longer, sets fire to his feet while he is sleeping, unintentionally killing him. Deepak's mother testifies against Kiran in court & refuses to give any witness to allegations of sexual assault & torture that Kiran has made against Deepak. O'Connell is asked to testify on Kiran's mental state when she was arrested. The detective in charge pressurizes O'Connell to testify that Kiran was fully mentally alert and in her senses. The defense lawyer presents a doctor from an emergency room who treated Kiran several times for signs of domestic abuse. But Kiran herself refuses to testify against Deepak as she deems it too shameful. Kiranjit is sentenced to life imprisonment with possibility of parole in 12 years. She befriends her cellmate, a Caucasian woman named Veronica Scott (Miranda Richardson), who teaches her English. Veronica is also friends with several girls in the prison and stands up for Kiranjit against the local prison bully. Veronica introduces Kiran to her friends Jackie (Deborah Moore), Lula (Maxine Finch), and Galdys. Radha manages to bring Kiran's kids to prison by making her mother-in-law believe that it is a court order. Radha also connects with Miriam to get work started on Kiran's appeal. Miriam says that she worked very hard on the case, and didn't charge Kiran for it. She says that the ruling was right as per the law, and refuses to file an appeal, even though she sympathizes with Kiran. One night, Veronica sees Kiran waking up from a nightmare and crying uncontrollably. Kiran tells her life's story to Veronica. Soon, its over a year since Kiran was jailed. Radha tells Kiran that the is court is not giving a date for the hearing of her appeals. Veronica realizes that Kiran needs a good barrister, and they don't have one as they don't have any money. Veronica enlists her brother, Lord Edward Foster QC (Robbie Coltrane), a highly respected Queen's Counsel, to aide in Kiranjit's appeal. Edward, in turn, realizes Kiranjit's importance to his sister and the importance of her case. His sister's request has additional meaning given that Veronica would not let him help her with her own appeal due to their on-off relationship since childhood. Before Kiranjit's appeal hearing the South Hall Black Sisters bring her plight to the attention of the media by organizing rallies to gather public support for her freedom. O'Connell comes forward and admits that he lied on stand, the night he arrested Kiran she was stunned and not in her senses. Her case goes for appeals in July 1992. Kiran is ultimately freed by the judicial system in a landmark case called "R vs Ahluwalia", redefining provocation in cases of battered women in the UK. The term provocation was restricted to a specific event of violence but is now changed to include the systematic torture and repression over a prolonged period of time which leads to a sudden burst of anger and frustration over an unexpected event. She was re-convicted from murder to manslaughter; but released with time served. Kiranjit is reunited with her children and subsequently given an award by Cherie Blair, for her crusade against domestic violence. At last, she leads a happy life with her children in UK.

The story is about the trials and tribulations faced by Shashanka, a retired bank manager and widower, and his daughter Megha, while trying to maintain their professional lives and relationships.

A little girl is told by her parents that she is adopted. Determined to find her real mother, she begs to be taken to Sri Lanka, where her mother works with a militant group of activists. Dhileepan and Shyama are Tamil-speaking residents of Mankulam, Sri Lanka, who get married with the blessings of their respective families. After the marriage, Shyama confides that she would like to be a mother of eight children, but she is stunned when her husband tells her that he cannot father any children until there is peace between the mainstream and the Tamils in this country. Nevertheless, they do get intimate, which results in Shyama getting pregnant. Dhileepan goes into hiding because of his connections with the Tamil Tigers, while Shyama returns to her father's house. A storm threatens their village, and they are forced to flee to a Refugee Camp in Rameswaram, India. Alone, without any support, Shyama gives birth to a girl, leaves her, and returns to Sri Lanka to be with her husband. The child gets noticed by noted Tamil author Thiruchelvan, who lives with his sister, her husband, and their son and writes books under the pen-name of Indra, who is actually an attractive TV newswoman who lives next door. When he comes forward to adopt her, he is initially refused, as he must be married in order to adopt any child. He accordingly gets married to Indra, and they adopt the child and name her Amudha. Subsequently, they become parents of two sons, Vinayan and Akhilan. After Amudha completes her ninth year, she is told that she has been adopted, which compels her to start searching for her biological mother. Amudha initially runs aways to Rameswaram, but she is unable to locate her and continues to be distraught until Thiruchelvan promises to take her to Mankulam. They do come across a woman named Shyama, but she denies having any children, and it is then that they find out that there is another Mankulam in the north of Sri Lanka. They travel there, among almost war-like conditions, and it is here that Thiruchelvan and his guide, Dr. Herold Vikramsinghe, will be abducted by Tamil Tigers, who, in turn, will arrange for a meeting with Shyama. Watch what happens when Amudha finally gets to meet her birth mother--who may outrightly disown her or induct her as one of the many child warriors among the Tamil Tigers. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)