Plot
The film's primary story follows four film directors:
- Trina Sen: A veteran director and former actress who is now married.
- Sakyo: A serious, acclaimed art-house filmmaker.
- Dipto: A once-prominent director who has fallen on hard times and now makes commercial films.
- Joyobroto: A young, effeminate aspiring filmmaker who brings the others together.
Joy is approached by an anonymous producer, Mr. Gupta, who wants to finance a film consisting of four short stories, with each director contributing one. The only condition is that all four stories must be centered on the theme of "death." Joy takes on the difficult task of convincing the three seasoned directors, who have a shared and troubled history. It is revealed that Trina, Dipto, and Sakyo were once entangled in a love triangle. Trina and Dipto were lovers, with Sakyo secretly in love with Trina. This creates an awkward and tense dynamic as they agree to collaborate.
The four set out on a road trip to the producer's secluded bungalow to present their scripts. Along the way, their car breaks down, forcing them to take refuge in another of the producer's properties. As they are stranded, the directors narrate their individual short film ideas to each other.
- Sakyo's story is about a television writer named Animesh who specializes in killing off characters in his serials. He is haunted by the ghosts of the characters he has "killed," who come back to take revenge on him.
- Dipto's story is a black comedy about a man named Bedoshruti Dey with a severe nicotine addiction who will do anything to get a cigarette. He is driven to desperate acts that ultimately lead to his own demise.
- Trina's story is a supernatural tale about a woman named Madhura who can communicate with the dead. She performs a "reverse planchette," summoning the spirits of the living to a seance.
Woven throughout the film in black and white is a second, seemingly unrelated plotline. This story, set in the 1970s, follows three young, aspiring filmmakers and friends: Nilanjana, Ritwick, and Amitava. Their dynamic mirrors that of the modern-day directors: a love triangle and professional rivalries. This black-and-white thread is often spliced into the main narrative at key moments, creating an aura of mystery. It is not immediately clear how this past story connects to the present.
As the four directors conclude their stories, Joy reveals his own script. He tells the story of an older half-brother and his wife who were betrayed by three of their closest friends and collaborators — a love triangle involving a leading actress and two directors. This betrayal led to the elder half-brother's film being abandoned and his wife's suicide, which drove him to a mental asylum.
As Joy narrates, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. The black-and-white flashbacks reveal that Nilanjana, Ritwick, and Amitava are none other than the younger versions of Trina, Dipto, and Sakyo. The older half-brother in Joy's story is the "producer," Mr. Gupta, who lost his mind because of their actions. Joy is his younger half-brother (whom Gupta raised like his son), who has orchestrated the entire film project as an elaborate act of revenge.
Joy's final act is to turn his narrative into a real-life horror film. He pulls out a gun and forces the three directors to participate in a game of Russian roulette. However, in a final, tragic twist, the gun misfires and kills Joy himself. The film ends with Trina and Dipto visiting the asylum, where a catatonic Mr. Gupta (the producer) does not recognize them. The audience is left to ponder the cyclical nature of revenge and how the sins of the past inevitably come back to haunt the present.
