Stolen

In the wee hours of a cold morning at a remote railway station in rural India, a chance encounter changes three lives forever. A five-month- old baby is stolen from the clutches of her mother, Jhumpa Mahato, an impoverished tribal woman with a dark past. Raman Bansal, a photographer, becomes the unwitting witness to this brutal incident. Gautam Bansal, a wealthy urban brat, has come to pick up his younger brother Raman from the station. While Raman genuinely feels empathetic towards the plight of Jhumpa, Gautam hardly cares to know more about what does not concern him and believes in the pleasures of a privileged life. Their already tenuous relationship is further tested when both of them are embroiled in Jhumpa’s endeavour to search for her baby. The perilous journey of the trio through the unknown hostile hinterlands thrust the young men out of their sheltered existence, compelling them to confront the harshness of reality. The trio are forced to navigate the dark underbelly of society, testing their resilience, trust, and ultimately, their humanity. Amidst the heart-pounding action and survival struggles, deeper themes of motherhood, classism, xenophobia, and a disillusionment with the system emerge.

In India, every ten minutes a child “disappears”, with only a fortunate few ever being found. A lack of state accountability, a sense of injustice, and an endless spread of misinformation through digital networks have mobilised vigilantism leading to innocent individuals being wrongfully accused and even penalised. I am alarmed by real life incidents that have eroded trust in our base social systems. Through the disparate characters of Stolen, I touch upon the unwavering strength of the human spirit that yet runs our world. In essence, my work aims to capture the complexity of our changing times while instilling a sense of hope and understanding.

PRODUCTION: Jungle Book Studio
S-334, Greater Kailash 2
110048 – New Delhi, India
Tel. +91 9811113245
gaurav@jbepl.com
https://junglebook.studio
https://www.stolen.film

WORLD SALES / ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Yohann Comte - Charades
Tel. +33 6 11 09 02 34
yohann@charades.eu