Ashok Vatika (TBA)

The dusty, narrow lanes of Banaras are dotted with small, colourful houses that are brimming with undiscovered tales and narratives. Situated on the holy banks of the divine pilgrimage, Banaras encapsulates the spirit of people with folksy habits and customs, who find joy in the ordinary.
Bestowing the simplicity and elegance with a fine marriage of the earthiness of the land and an embodiment of self, Shanvi, 30, lives in Banaras. A mother of a young girl child, an obeying daughter-in-law, and a Bharatnatyam teacher, Sanvi is a widow who was married at the tender age of 19.
Subdued with fear and vulnerability, she leads an ordinary life as life snatched her womanhood well before she could realise. Shanvi’s life is contained in her own Ashok Vatika, which happens to be Banaras. Silently craving the life of a married woman, Shanvi wants to be touched, loved, caressed but more importantly saved by her Ram. Ram, "the exemplary husband". However, due to society's norms and the constant fear of "what people will think" or "people will talk", she seldom tries to break free from the caged imprisonment. The prison where her desires are buried and burnt in the pyre, released into ashes, like the funeral ghats of Banaras.
Disguised as a blessing, Eshan, a young filmmaker, lands in Banaras. He is in the process of shooting a documentary on the lives of widows in the city and is guided by another young local, Dayalu. Eshan happens to meet Shanvi in this course and is mesmerized by her angelic demeanour and charm. Shanvi, on the other hand, gets tempted with a new-found companion and finds herself wanting more from the association. She feels that a foreigner to this land, to this part of society, won’t judge her sexual desires or need of companionship.
The delusional “Ram” starts taking the form of Eshan for Shanvi and she is pulled towards the warmth and tender touch of a man, after years. For her, Eshan seems to be that fresh end to a stalemate and prolonged life of solitude. But a few dreams are glorious, just as mere ideas. The reality of an interpolative story is often completely different.
In a relentless pursuit of spending time with and knowing each other, Shanvi begins to grow closer to Eshan and seeks her version of 'redefined love' as redemption, with him. Whereas Eshan is a free soul who is still trying to find his niche in life and is unaffected by anything other than his own thoughts. For him, the bond he shares with her begins and ends with his document. On a fateful night, it so happens that Shanvi watches him make love to another woman.
A closed casket of dreams and possibilities, shatter as soon as the mirror of reality cracks open. Eshan’s documentary and Shanvi’s short fairytale end simultaneously leaving her dissolute for the rest of her years. Wrought within her internal conflicts, she gets submerged again, beneath the overwhelming waves of the shallow society. Ultimately, the Ashok Vatika remains her safe and sacred sanctuary.