The Fourth Direction

Set during the conflict between Sikh separatists and the Indian army in the early 1980s, fear, distrust and paranoia form the main emotional frame of the narrative. Jugal and Raj, two Hindi friends, miss their last train to Amritsar, the holiest city in Punjab. They end up in a cargo wagon among illegal passengers. In flashbacks we follow Jugal’s family lost at night on the outskirts of a Punjabi village. Full of fear, they hesitantly knock at the door of an isolated house and ask for directions. Later that night, Sikh terrorists visit the same Punjabi family and give orders to kill their dog for barking and drawing attention. The next morning, paramilitary men burst into the house looking for the terrorists.
Sophisticated direction and impressive photography that creates claustrophobia and suspense evoke the time of the Punjab insurgency, which culminated in the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

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