Heat and Dust

An Englishwoman named Anne inherits Olivia's letters and diary and begins piecing together what happened to her great-aunt. She sets out to uncover Olivia's past and arranges a journey to India to trace Olivia's steps. The pursuit frames the film's dual timelines, mixing present-day inquiry with Olivia's memories from the 1920s.

In England, Anne visits the elderly Harry Hamilton-Paul, Olivia's close friend from her youth. He shares memories of Olivia's temperament, charm, and the social pressures surrounding her in India. His recollections hint at deeper tensions behind the glittering expatriate world.

Anne travels to India to follow Olivia's trail and unspools her life through flashbacks. The narrative shifts to 1923 as Olivia's story unfolds in Satipur. Her tale begins to reveal love, danger, and political intrigue under the Raj.

Olivia, newly married to Douglas Rivers, arrives in Satipur to join his civil service posting. They start their life together in a tense, yet affectionate, colonial setting. The summer heat and social expectations loom over their early years.

Douglas urges Olivia to spend the summer in Simla to escape the heat, but she refuses to be separated from him. The local memsahib society feels claustrophobic to her, fueling her sense of restlessness. She remains drawn to India despite the constraints of her environment.

A grand dinner at the Nawab of Khatm's palace gathers British officials and their wives. Olivia attracts the Nawab's attention, while Harry Hamilton-Paul remains a trusted, jovial presence at the court. The evening marks the start of a dangerous fascination that will shape Olivia's fate.

Olivia and the Nawab begin a clandestine romance amid the heat and intrigue of Raj-era politics. Harry's easy charm and Olivia's curiosity complicate arrangements and loyalties. The affair deepens under a web of power and desire.

Olivia tells both Douglas and the Nawab that she is pregnant. Each man reads the situation through his own desires and claims of lineage, intensifying a conflict between love, legitimacy, and political stakes. The possibility of a mixed-race heir sits at the heart of the unfolding drama.

To conceal the paternity of the child, Olivia undergoes an abortion with the help of Harry and the Begum. However, complications reveal the deception, and she escapes from the hospital to elope with the Nawab to Kashmir. The rift with Douglas becomes permanent as Olivia seeks refuge in the mountains.

Olivia leaves Douglas behind and runs off with the Nawab to Kashmir, seeking a life away from British authority. The couple's alliance is marked by romance but also volatility as he clings to power and Olivia to independence. Douglas is left heartbroken and eventually remarries.

In present-day Satipur, Anne befriends Inder Lal, a polite civil servant, and encounters Chid, an American posing as a sanyasi. Chid tries to seduce Anne, but she grows closer to Inder Lal and resists the charlatan's tricks. The dynamics introduce a modern echo of Olivia's past.

Anne and Inder Lal's growing closeness culminates in an unexpected pregnancy. The prospect of an abortion hovers over them as a parallel to Olivia's earlier choices. Anne's dilemma intensifies the film's meditation on fate and agency within patriarchal structures.

Anne begins the process of an abortion but backs down at the last minute, choosing to carry the pregnancy forward. Her decision crystallizes the parallel between Olivia's life and her own. The moment deepens her resolve to understand the sacrifices woven through generations.

Chid's schemes and unhealthy diet take him to a health crisis, forcing him to return to the United States. His exit closes a disruptive chapter for Anne and the others. The departure clears space for Anne to pursue the Kashmiri memory of Olivia.

Seeking closure, Anne travels to the snowy mountains of Kashmir, where Olivia spent her final years in solitude. She contemplates bearing her own child in a nearby hospital, continuing the cycle of memory and motherhood. The journey links Olivia's past to Anne's present and hints at what lies ahead.