B.A. Pass

Mukesh, a bright young man who has just finished his plus two, faces a grim turning point when his parents die and his grandfather appoints his stern, unfriendly aunt Pammi to care for him, with promises of financial support to make that arrangement work. The family dynamics quickly become strained as Pammi’s household resents the new burden, and Mukesh finds it hard to secure even pocket money for his day-to-day needs. With two sisters kept under the grandfather’s roof while the adults pool their resources, Mukesh grapples with the everyday realities of survival, trying to focus on his first-year B.A. studies while his ambitions to rise above his circumstances keep tugging at him.

In Delhi’s graveyard, a chance friendship blossoms between Mukesh and Johnny, an undertaker who shares a quiet love of chess and a stubborn dream of leaving the country. Johnny’s stories—especially about a brother in Mauritius who offers a way out—plant seeds of hope in Mukesh, even as money remains a constant obstacle. Their unusual bond becomes a lifeline of sorts, a reminder that one’s future can be shaped by small, human connections even in the midst of hardship.

At a neighborhood kitty party, Mukesh encounters Sarika, a neighbor with a guarded past and a husband who is apparently connected to Mukesh’s aunt’s world of work. Sarika offers him apples and uses the opportunity to pull him into a dangerous cadence: she seduces him, pays him, and the two begin a troubling pattern, with Mukesh using the money to print and post his own teaching posters as he clings to a plan to earn more and prove himself capable of supporting his family. The initial warmth of their arrangement marks the start of a much darker arc.

The death of Mukesh’s grandfather shifts the family’s finances into sharper focus, and the sisters—Chotti Anula Navlekar and Sonu Raveena Singh—find themselves transferred to a girl’s home. Mukesh tries to shield them by claiming his income comes from tutoring, but the need for more cash pushes him toward increasingly precarious gigs. Sarika broadens Mukesh’s world of “opportunities,” introducing him to a string of hungry aunts who push him deeper into a male-for-hire world. The promise is simple enough: if he earns enough, he can eventually bring his sisters home and rebuild their lives together.

As the money flows, the respite ends when the warden of the girls’ home—angered by Mukesh’s illicit money—comes into play, and Sarika’s influence begins to reveal its darker edges. A domestic shakeup detonates when Sarika’s husband, Ashok, discovers the ongoing arrangements. The confrontation that follows exposes the power dynamics within Sarika’s household—humiliations, accusations, and the tearing apart of fragile trust. The aunt, already wary of Mukesh’s ambitions, throws him out after she learns he sought the loan and kissed Sarika, a turning point that forces Mukesh to seek shelter at Johnny’s place even as Sarika withdraws.

Survival becomes a brutal impulse. Sarika withdraws support, and Mukesh finds Johnny increasingly distant—torn between the debt he owes and the growing sense that he has been used. His sisters’ desperate cries intensify the pressure, prompting Mukesh to take a perilous step: he offers his body to other men for money. The danger of this choice becomes painfully clear when a gang assault leaves him battered and scarred, compounding the sense that Sarika’s promises were a trap. The betrayal by Sarika cuts deepest as she claims she gave Johnny the money; she also denies Mukesh’s version of events and implies she had urged him not to come around anymore.

In a moment of crisis, [Ashok] confronts Mukesh and Sarika’s status in their world, and the tension escalates into a fatal ruse. Sarika invites Mukesh into a dangerous trap, and in a shocking sequence, Mukesh stabs her, first lightly and then fatally, in front of Ashok. He flees to Johnny’s house, only to learn that Johnny has already left for Mauritius with the money. A disconnected call from his sister pulls him back to a harsh reality: his family still needs him, but the path home is blocked.

With no clear future and the police closing in, Mukesh clings to one last thread of hope as he heads toward the railway station. A tense chase culminates on a balcony where, under the weight of guilt and fear, he takes a fatal leap. The fall ends a life marked by a desperate quest for belonging, dignity, and a chance to lift his sisters out of harm’s way, leaving the audience to grapple with the consequences of a cycle of exploitation that began in youth and spiraled toward tragedy.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:21