Bayaan

In India, the concept of godmen — spiritual leaders elevated to the status of demigod — has spawned a series of narratives. Fiction (Aashram ) and non-fiction (My Daughter Joined a Cult, Cult of Fear: Asaram Bapu, etc) alike have responded to the peculiarity of the culture. Bikas Ranjan Mishra’s new film, Bayaan, a loosely wound police procedural that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a frustrating reiteration of the template. To be fair, Bayaan is largely effective and well-made with slight exceptions. The plot is rooted in Rajasthan, where a godman, ‘Maharaj’ (Chandrachur Singh), runs an ashram full of young girls. When one of them tips off about his sexual abuse, a Delhi-based police officer, Roohi (Huma Qureshi), is assigned to the case. She might be a novice, but she knows the way. Her father (Sachin Khedekar) has been in the profession for a long time and is celebrated by peers. Mishra’s film outlines the way in which an anonymous tip opens a can of worms for the godman, only for Roohi to realise that she, a privileged urban woman, inhabits a world as compliant as that of the rural women.