Plot

A public prosecutor discovers the harsh realities about life of the scheduled tribes in India during 1980s while defending a case of a tribesman charged of murdering his wife.

After working with his mentor and Public Prosecutor Dushane for many years, Advocate Bhaskar Kulkarni is assigned a legal aid case of Bhiku Lahanya, who is accused of brutally killing his wife, Nag, for disobeying him and refusing to have sex with other men. Bhiku remains silent when asked to plead guilty or otherwise. Bhaskar's efforts to get him to subsequently confide in him, prove in vain. Even when Bhaskar goes to talk to Bhiku's dad and sister, he is shunned. When he persists his window panes are broken, then one night he is attacked and knifed. He gets Police protection through the courts and persists with his questions - only to run into nothing but a wall of silence. Then he is contacted by a Social Worker who tells him what really happened. Before Bhaskar could do anything, the Social Worker goes missing, & Bhiku's dad passes away. When Bhiku is permitted to attend his funeral - this is where Bhiku will break his silence - a silence that will see him face another charge of cold-blooded murder!!—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Allegedly based on a true incident reported on page 7 of a local newspaper, the film was a scathing satire on the corruption in the judicial system and the victimization of the underprivileged by the able and the powerful.

25th Dec 1978, A woman's body was recovered from a well in the Gundachi village. The woman's name was Nagi Lahanya (Smita Patil). She was married tribal woman. Lahanya Bhiku (Om Puri) is her husband, who has been arrested for her murder. Bhiku is brought from jail to cremate his wife's body.

Bhaskar Kulkarni (Naseeruddin Shah) is a lawyer appointed by the court to defend Bhiku, as Bhiku cannot afford a lawyer on his own. Dushane (Amrish Puri) is the public prosecutor. Bhiku doesn't say a single word in court. Bhiku's father (Nana Palsikar) and sister (Bhagyashree Kotnis) attend the court proceedings, as the sister manages Bhiku's baby boy.

Bhaskar meets Bhiku in lock up, but even then Bhiku doesn't say a single word. Bhaskar assumes that Bhiku has murdered his wife and suspects that she was having an affair.

At night, Bhiku is shown to be in intense pain in lock-up. Bhasker is junior to Dushane and also his student. Bhaskar is worried that his career will be impacted when he loses the case. Dushane encourages Bhaskar to fight the case without worrying about the outcome. Dushane plays bridge with Dr Vasant M. Patil (Arvind Deshpande) and Bhonsle (Mohan Agashe), chairman, Zilla Parishad. The group includes MLA Ganpatrao & the DSP. Dr Patil did the Post Mortem on Nagi.

More (Achyut Potdar), is a forest contractor in the area where Nagi's dead body was found. Bhiku's father and sister work for More in the same forest, cutting trees. Bhaskar tries to make inquires in a local newspaper about the news of Nagi's death, but the editor Samant refuses to share any details and asks Bhaskar to leave. Bhaskar is being followed.

Through Bhiku's nightmares we learn that Nagi was being lured by More, with promise of biscuits and new clothes. Bhiku was angry with Nagi as he knew More was going to touch her body one day. Bhiku was madly in love with Nagi. Bhaskar travels to Bhiku's home to find more information and meets his father and sister. Even the family refuses to speak to Bhaskar. A social worker (Mahesh Elkunchwar) sees Bhaskar trying to talk to the family in their village. The social worker introduces himself to Bhaskar and tries to understand Bhaskar view on the case. Bhaskar explains the work done so far, and the fact that nobody is willing to share anything. The Social worker says that he came to the village after Nagi's death.

That night, Bhaskar finds Samant thrashed and bleeding on the road. More updates Dushane about the thrashing delivered to Samant. Bhaskar gets increasingly frustrated that nobody will speak to him about this case. Bhaskar is attacked at his house that night. Bhaskar meets Dr Patil the next day, who asks him to meet at 9 pm. Bhaskar visits Bhiku's village to meet his father and sister again. But he finds the father drunk. At 9 pm, Bhaskar finds Samant coming out of Dr Patil's clinic. But he is told that Dr Patil is not in his clinic and has gone outside. That night Bhaskar is stabbed in the arm in a desolate street.

Bhaskar pleads the court for police protection, but Dushane objects saying that there is no proof to link the attack on Bhaskar to the Bhiku case. Bhaskar argues that justice is the responsibility of the court, and court orders to provide Police protection to Bhaskar. That night, while the policeman slept outside Bhaskar's house, an unknown person tried to speak to Bhaskar, but Bhaskar was afraid and did not open the door to let the person in.

The trial begins. Dushane contends that Bhiku tried to sell Nagi into prostitution to fulfill his desire for booze. When Nagi resisted, he killed her. Dushane produces a witness who says that he saw Bhiku looking down the well, where Nagi's body was later found. The witness says that Bhiku was drunk, and he walked away from the well.

Bhaskar is followed by an unknown person on the beach, when the policeman was looking elsewhere. Bhaskar runs away and takes refuge in a private house near the beach. Bhaskar reaches out to Dushane and narrates the incident, and Dushane connects him to the DSP. The DSP says that the unknown person was a policeman who was simply approaching Bhaskar for a matchstick.

In the trial, Dushane produces many witnesses who say that Bhiku was in their debt, and he always offered to send Nagi to them to settle his debts. That night, the social worker meets Bhaskar in secret. He says that Nagi was raped and murdered by More, Bhonsle, Dr Patil and the DSP. Bhiku was opposing More and Bhonsle and this was their plan to suppress his self-respect. But there is no proof.

Bhaskar meets Bhiku in lock-up again. He beseeches him to speak up. Bhiku is still silent. In court, Dr Patil testifies that there were no signs of rape on Nagi. There were scratch marks on the shoulders and the abdominal area, but Patil says that the marks were from Nagi being dragged on the ground. Bhaskar contends that Dr Patil did not conduct a full and thorough investigation into the cause of Nagi's death. Bhiku remembers mentally how Nagi was called to More's house at night. Bhiku followed her and heard her screams and tried to rescue her, but he was drunk and was easily subdued by More's men.

Bhaskar cross-examines one of More's men. The person breaks down during cross questioning and even Dushane is not able to save him. The person admits that on 24th Dec 1978, there was a party at More's bungalow. Bhiku came there that night and created a ruckus. But before Bhaskar could get the full story, Dushane asks the court to be adjourned since it is already 5 pm.

That night, the social worker visits Bhiku's family, but he is abducted in front of the family as a clear warning. Next day Bhonsle reaches out to Bhaskar and offers him a large case in Bombay. Bhaskar refuses the opportunity. Bhonsle indicates that the social worker has now been killed. Bhiku's father dies in the jungle. Bhiku is allowed to attend his father's funeral. Bhiku's sister is now without any protection. At the funeral, Bhiku murders his own sister with an ax. He screams in anguish. He did this to prevent his sister's rape. Bhaskar is adamant to fight Bhiku's case. Dushane tells Bhaskar that if he dies in the pursuit of justice, Dushane will treat it as an accident and not as connected to Bhiku's case.