Shadows in the Dark

Ill-fated love set against the epic canvas of India's partition into Hindu Indian and Pakistan. Lajma, a beautiful school teacher with greying hair, leaves Pakistan for her childhood home in India. There she discovers that the home is in ruin, her aging aunt is half senile, and her cousin Gautam is bitter and defeated. Flashback to 1947 when India splits in two - a proud old Muslim man, along with his grieving daughter-in-law, take in a couple of impoverished Hindus, Chand and Bhagwati, into their home. Later, Chand's mute sister Lajjo arrives with her young daughter Lajma. Suffering from some unnamed past trauma, Lajjo is eventually sent to an asylum, leaving Lajma with her uncle. Lajma recalls her aborted relationship with the childhood friend and her inability to understand what her lover was going through, as well as her lover's inability to acknowledge a latent bisexuality. But the most difficult memory to deal with is that of her mother, brutalised during the riots.

Directed by Pankaj Butalia, Shadows in the Dark leans on a strong ensemble — Subrat Dutta, Kitu Gidwani, Mandakini Goswami — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 1999.