Dhiren

The film explores the different life styles of modern India. In urban society corruption is rife, careers advanced by bribes and influence. But there is an alternative: life in the hills, where the people face life silently and accept nature's gifts. In this ultimately optimistic film, a Manipuri youth lives through personal pain and disappointment to face with new hope and energy the struggle of his family for a different way of life.

This Manipuri drama opens as a happy young couple are preparing for an ear-piercing ceremony for their first child, a daughter. This is an important custom in their region of India, signifying the beginning of a responsible stage in life. Things go awry when the wife begins talking to flowers, singing odd songs, and having fits. In fact, the fits get so violent that she has to be physically restrained and tied down to prevent her from hurting herself. It eventually emerges that she has been chosen by a spirit which is special to a particular religious cult, the Meibis. Things proceed swiftly with her new, unsought, allegiance as she makes contact with the cult and its leader and prepares to leave her heartsick husband and child behind.