Vishal Bhardwaj

Set in the Chambal valley, the film follows the story of a legion of dreaded, warring dacoits who once terrorised the Indian heartlands.

A social media driven rumour, backed by a single defiant lowly news channel called Strawberry TV hits all of India. The ten year old son of the Home Minister has been kidnapped. A choric group of people from all over India react to this rumour, some believing it, others expressing total disbelief because they believe that the powerful cannot be touched in this country. Unfortunately the rumour yet unconfirmed by the PMO is true. Rahul has been kidnapped on the way back from a nightly excursion. The HM, his advisors and the man in charge of the investigation Jt. Dir. CBI Nachiket Verma are trying to zero in on the kidnappers. Who might they be? Terrorists? Naxalites? Men operating at the behest of the opposition or powerful criminals? Or was it a case of mistaken identity? The answer is none of these as the kidnapper soon gets in touch with them himself. He is just another father whose son has gone missing. We do not know where. It is his son that he wants them to find and then he will return the HM`s son. A normal techie by profession, the kidnapper Nirmal has reached a state of madness where death and consequences do not scare him anymore. As the cat and mouse game to catch him continues, as the increasingly fickle sympathies of the public oscillate between one father at one time and the other at another, a shocking fact comes out of it all.

Haider is Vishal Bhardwaj`s adaptation of William Shakespeare`s Hamlet. It follows Haider, a young man who returns home to Kashmir on receiving news of his father`s disappearance. Not only does he learn that the security forces have detained his father for harboring militants, but that his mother is in a relationship with his very own uncle. Intense drama follows between mother and son, as both struggle to come to terms with the news of his father`s death. Soon, Haider learns that his uncle is responsible for the gruesome murder and he sets out to avenge his father`s death.

K is addicted to smoking and is just not ready to give up the habit. But when his wife, Anjali, walks out on him, he makes an effort to meet Baba Bengali. This mysterious character runs a centre for rehab from all sorts of addictions. K and Baba make an agreement. Only, K cannot break the agreement once its been decided on. A desperate K throws caution to the winds and tries smoking in his car. But the moment he lights a cigarette, the car blows up, with him in it. He understands that he cannot escape the Baba till he fulfils his side of the agreement. What happens now? Does K ever quit smoking? Does Anjali get back to him? What`s the contract all about?

Naive, simple-minded, and illiterate Bhaskar Sarnaik (Amitabh Dayal) comes to Bombay from his far-off village, to look for his missing brother, Raghuvir. He comes in contact with Sub-Inspector Gokhale (Om Puri), who feels sorry for him, and not only offers to find his brother, but also employment at an Irani Restaurant. Bhaskar does find his brother - in the morgue - but decides not to tell his mother as this may break her heart. He decides to stay on in Bombay and undergoes training to become a police officer. A short time later he is also a Sub-Inspector working closely with Gokhale. He is wounded in an encounter, and his mother comes to look after, and gets him to marry Aditi (Nandita Das) from the same village, which Bhaskar does so. Then the police must hunt for Adi, a notorious hit-man. When Bhaskar comes face to face with Adi, he does not shoot him, and as a result Adi escapes. Adi then gives an interview on television that he is the child-hood friend of Bhaskar, and that he would never be shot at by Bhaskar. As a result, Bhaskar gets suspended from service, and becomes the subject of an intensive investigation by the Crime Branch, who are now convinced that Bhaskar is on the pay-roll of Adi and other underworld elements. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)