Anjala (2016)

Evocative and provocative, this family-oriented social drama revolves around a tea-shop that is built on an absolutely arid land in the British India of 1913, and how the lone eatery on hostile wilderness spawns a community around it -- and ultimately a whole village.

This extraordinary saga begins with a couple wearily walking on a parched expanse of land. There is no vegetation--no trees, no shrubs. The husband and wife are going towards a village, but make a mid-day halt to quench their thirst. An English officer on horseback comes along, and orders them to move. But the couple stays on right there after the officer leaves, and decide to build a shack on the spot that eventually becomes the tea-shop. Over a period of time, this little spot where travellers come to quench their thirst, begins to attract more and more people, and a village forms around it.

'Anjala' is much more than a teashop, it is a vibrant centre of social activity where men meet, where lovers exchange their first shy glances. Subsequently, the shop is run by the founder's son, but unbeknownst to him and the boys who work there, a crook hides counterfeit currency notes within its precincts. And this leads to the owner being arrested, and his social esteem taking a severe beating.

The sequence of events leads the government to take a decision to demolish the teashop and take over the land and livelihood of the family. Will they come together and fight back? What will the future hold in store for them?