Nandigramer Chokher Pani (2014)

The film is situated in the pristinely beautiful villages of Nandigram where the people lead an agrarian life, a life that is connected to their land, river, ponds and the seasons. Man and nature coexist in a harmonious balance. This balance of life is threatened when the government decides to build a chemical hub on the fertile agricultural land. The peace loving people of Nandigram stand up to defend their right to the land. On the 14th of March 2007, police and Harmad (communist’s soldiers) open fire on a peaceful procession of farmers. Fourteen men were reported to be dead although many other bodies could not be traced. The violence of State power, crystallizes the convictions of the farmers into a do or die situation. The people of Nandigram declare it to be a ‘free zone’, free from all state interference. In the months that followed, many men, women and children were killed, many more maimed, women brutalized, houses burnt and the Talpati river becomes red by the blood of it’s people. Jail Hauz Mian is a septuagenarian who loses his only son Naseer on the 14th of March, his body could not be traced. Naseer’s eighteen years old bride Saeda refuses to accept his death. She continues to believe that Naseer would come back one day. Rakhal is a young revolutionary who, like many others, has joined in the battle of Nandigram. Rakhal puts up in the house of Jail Hauz Mian. He chalks up strategies for the battle, fights in the fields, organizes and inspires the young minds of Nandigram. Like a wandering shadow, Rakhal - with a rifle stuck to his back, traverses through the length and breadth of Nandigram. Little kids love him, the young look up to him and the old bless him with long life. But in the eyes of Saeda, he remains an enigma.