Herdsman Tanvir (Sadakkit Bijran) leaves no stone unturned in asking for the hand of beautiful Laila (Navjot Randhawa) in marriage and soon they are a couple. Meanwhile, with the protests against the revocation of special status peaking in Kashmir, the authorities turn more oppressive by the day, harassing Laila for her identity papers and the wandering community over the required permits. She decides to take two overbearing, lustful cops head on, even as Tanvir advises her to learn to distinguish between minor and major transgressions.

Set in the nomadic Gujjar-Bakarwal community of shepherds in Jammu and Kashmir, LAILA AUR SATT GEET is a beguiling film that is a cultural document, a subversive political parable, and a feminist fable. Inspired from the verses of the 14th century mystical Kashmiri poet Lal Ded or Lalleshwari and a Rajasthani folk tale by Vijaydan Detha, it takes the viewers deep into the sprawling meadows and majestic mountains of remote Kashmir. The placid narrative is gently punctuated with a rich haul of folk music from Kashmir and Central Asia on the themes of marriage and migration, regret and playfulness. Navjot Randhawa is a sensuous presence as Laila, delicate, ferocious, with a mind of her own and in control of her desires and destiny. The character becomes a metaphor for the state of Kashmir itself, the magnificent land whose soul everyone stakes a claim on and wants to capture. Director Pushpendra Singh tells the tale with his characteristic restraint and open-endedness, leaving it to the viewers to draw their own meaning and magic.

DIRECTOR

Born in Sainyaa, a village in the district Agra, Pushpendra graduated from the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune. He began as an actor and assistant director. In 2014, his directorial debut, LAJWANTI, screened in the Berlinale Forum. His second feature film, ASHWATTHAMA, premiered in the New Currents competition at the Busan International Film Festival in 2017, while his hybrid film MARU RO MOTI was shown at IDFA in 2019.