Nirbhay Kalita leaves his home in Guwahati, Assam, with a lot of hope and dreams of starting a new chapter in his life on a college campus over 2,000 km far away in Pune, Maharashtra but the political turmoil in his home state Assam soon engulfs him and his entire family, triggering a chain of events that will radically alter the course of his life.
 
Two-time National Award winner, Nilaanjan R Datta’s debut Bollywood Hindi film ‘Shadow Assassins’ puts the spotlight on the ‘secret killings’ of Assam, which marked the darkest period in the history of the North-Eastern region of India. Masked gunmen would raid the homes of those thought to be sympathisers of the outlawed militant group, ULFA, and pick them up. Their bullet-ridden and mutilated bodies were discovered across the countryside, in fields and forests, streams and rivers. Homes were set on fire, and families destroyed in a devastative manner. The dreaded night-time knock on the door ended up unleashing a blood bath, with more than 1,100 innocent civilians reported to have been killed between 1998-2001. In the year 2005, the Justice KN Saikia Inquiry Commission was set up to investigate the cases. 2 years later, the panel submitted its report. In 2018, based on a writ petition by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, during whose regime the horrors took place, the Guwahati High Court declared the constitution of the commission invalid. ‘Shadow Assassins’ is based on the Commission’s report into the brutalities.
 
The film charts the journey of its protagonist, Nirbhay, who is raring to spread his wings in the world, but ends up getting caught in a vortex of violence. The youngster is home for the holidays when he is dragged away from the dinner table by a bunch of masked people, demanding to know the whereabouts of his brother, Mridul, who has joined the ULFA. The family is clueless, but they have been delivered an ominous warning. Nirbhay is reluctant to leave his family in this state of turmoil, but they persuade him to return to Pune. As soon as Nirbhay lands in Pune, Maharashtra he receives a mysterious call asking him to come back to Guwahati, Assam immediately. He sets off on the journey to home filled with a sense of foreboding, but not knowing that there will be no turning back.
 
Over two decades after the ‘secret killings’ ended, the chilling carnage continues to cast long shadows on the survivors and their families.
 
‘Shadow Assassins’ turns back the pages on a dark chapter of history that has for long remained in the backdrop of our collective conscience. Not anymore, though. The film, comprising an ensemble cast and crew drawn from the Hindi, Bengali and Assamese film industries with Anurag Sinha and Mishti Chakravarty in the lead character roles, and Rakesh Om and Hemant Kher in pivotal roles, released in theatres on December 9th 2022.

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