Dansh - 2005

Story

Very few of us would imagine that nature can lay the foundation for terrorism.
The history of Mizoram, a state in the north-eastern region of India illustrates this strange occurrence. Every fifty years the bamboo jungles of Mizoram bloom into a rich harvest of flowers. The smell of these flowers causes a battalion of rats to attack, and with the flowers they destroy the entire crop, inevitably causing a famine. The year 1956 was the last time this episode occurred in Mizoram, which was then a part of the state of Assam.

The people of Mizoram felt that the Indian government had failed them as a nation. Thus started a struggle for independence. They succeeded in overthrowing the Indian government to establish their own, but the Indian army retaliated and regained power. The battle between the Indian forces and MNF (Mizo National Front) raged on for thirty years and finally in 1986, a peace treaty between the two was signed.

Our story begins on the day the peace treaty was signed. Mathew (Kay Kay) is the MNF spokesman, an architect of the peace treaty. Maria (Sonali Kulkarni), his wife, is a victim of the atrocities inflicted by the Indian army in the past. Inspite of being tortured by them, Maria still believed that peace would put an end to all the killing. Havala is another member of MNF who is driven to the point of suicide by his agony over the peace treaty. Maria is greatly affected by his death.

Old wounds were just beginning to resurface, when Dr John Sanga (Aditya Srivastava) enters their world. The Doctor has seen his share of misery in the assassination of his father, former DIG of Mizoram at the hands of MNF. Following this, the Doctor moves to Mumbai to start life afresh. The doctor doesn't blame anyone for his father's brutal death or his exile from Mizoram, and leaves Mathew greatly inspired and touched, and in total awe of his ability to not hold on to the past. Mathew invites the doctor to spend the night at his house, and after a few drinks the Doctor falls asleep there.

Treading on the footsteps of a fateful past, life throws new questions at our protagonists. Maria feels that the Doctor is the man who had raped her in the army camp. She tortures the Doctor, trying to make him confess. The Doctor claims to be innocent but Maria trusts her instincts too well. She may have been blindfolded while being raped, but in her gut, she still believes that this is her rapist. Maria wants Mathew to kill the doctor. Mathew is confused, and finds it hard to choose between the Doctor and his wife.

The story revolves around this night of perplexity. Is Maria right in trusting her instincts? Is the Doctor innocent? Will Mathew's love for his wife lure him to a decision that may not be right? Will the new attempt for peace loose its first battle to sweet revenge?