Anirban Dutta

In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe.

The young girl married off at an age where the notion of a marriage had not yet been comprehended, to the gradual onset of her disillusionment with her loveless existence, the natural escaping into a dream world of make belief, where Jahnabi and Lohit are never far from each other; to the final embracing of the truth that Lohit will remain the distant dream that he always was- these are the various milestones in the journey of Jahnabi. So you may ask- why this movie at this time, in such a context? The story of Jahnabi is not just the story of a particular woman or womankind as a whole. It is the story of humanity, and the river flows through it , in her reality and her dreams like life blood itself.

The mythical cowherdess Radha and poet-saint Meera vie for the attention of their blue-skinned paramour-god Krishna. Singled out by the poet Jayadeva as Lord Krishna’s favourite inamorata in his twelfth century epic love poem Gita Govinda, Radha is often characterised by feelings of jealousy and heartbreak at Krishna’s eternal fickleness. Meera, on the other hand, was a sixteenth century poet-saint whose relationship to Krishna was one of constant devotion and unfulfilled yearning, sentiments immortalised in her poems that continue to be sung today as musical compositions.

A Postal Runner, a person who runs or walks from one place to another carrying mail bags. The runner used to be held in high regard with tales of his valour coming to life in the myths and folk forms of the land. With improvements in modes of communication, the runner's profession has become almost redundant.

Far from the mainland and mainstream consciousness, in a region ridden with uncertainties, Tora is a quaint village with bad roads, erratic transport service, a dysfunctional school, no hospital, no power supply, no mobile network and no job opportunities.