Calcutta News (2008)

Ajit Thomas (Dileep) is an acclaimed investigative television anchor and producer with a leading channel 'Calcutta News', and is the son of a former footballer who grew up in Kolkata. His team at the channel includes news assistant Smita (Vimala Raman), and anchors Aruna (Manasa) and Sheela (Brinda). Ajit is a lovable guy who lives in a flat with his mom and sister and is active member of the Malayalee Samajam led by a comical president (Innocent) and his wife (Bindu Panicker). One day Ajit bumps into a newly married Malayalee couple while on work in a tram, but the guy is hostile when he tries to introduce himself as a Malayalee! However, while editing the news, he is shocked to find that an unidentified body found near Kalighat, resembles the rude guy he met in the tram. Ajit's investigative nature comes into the fore as he goes about finding the mystery behind the brutal murder of the guy. The guy was Hari (Indrajith), who had married an orphan Krishnapriya (Meera Jasmine) from Pattambi and brought her to Kolkata, before his brutal murder. Krishnapriya is unaware of her husband's job or what he does for a living and is shattered to know about his death. However, just before Hari is killed, Krishnapriya had come to know that Hari had only married her with the intention of delivering her, a young virgin, to his boss. Krishnapriya is both relieved that she is safe from the sex racket she almost fell into, as well as desperate and sad because Hari had been the only person she knew or could go to. Without any possibility of returning home, and with nowhere else to go, she feels pinned down to the extent that she attempts suicide but fails. Hope floats into her life after Ajit sort of becomes her protector and also gets attracted to her for her innocence and their mutual love for music. Krishnapriya moves in with Aruna and Sheela but cannot forget her past. When she comes across a psychic at Ajith's office she decides to approach him to know the exact cause of Hari's death. The psychic communicates with Hari's spirit and Krishnapriya comes to know of who killed Hari. Ajit becomes concerned about Krishnapriya's obsession with the details of Hari's murder and the strange behaviour she exhibits sometimes. He takes the help of a psychologist to help her forget the painful memories, and she begins to live a normal life teaching music to children. The henchmen of the racket are meanwhile on the hunt for her, as they had already paid Hari for a new girl. The one-armed bearded guy (Kathal Krishnamoorthy) who operates from Sonagachi, the largest red-light area in eastern India, looking for Krishnapriya also wants to settle a score with her, because it was in the fight with Hari to get her that Hari had cut off his arm. On a tip off they trace her to the music school and kidnap her. Ajit tries to get the help of the police but they refuse to register a complaint without any proof. He is forced to go after his love all alone. When he enters the red-light area Ajit is shocked at the abuse and neglect the women are facing. Will Ajit succeeded in helping his love escape from this unspeakable hell? Can he find a way to expose the immensity of the exploitation and sheer horror faced by women in these areas and bring it to the light of the people?