Shyam Singha Roy 2021

Vasu, Nani, is an aspiring film director in Hyderabad who hopes to break through by making a short film. He finds Keerthi, a psychology graduate, to lead the project, and after some initial hesitation, Krithi Shetty Keerthi agrees. The shoot wraps in a few days. During a shooting day, goons harass Keerthi; Vasu confronts them. In the ensuing clash, a blow to the head leaves him with an ear bleed and a sudden, unsettled shift in his mind—a psychological disorder that briefly splits him into another personality.

Impressed by the short, a producer green-lights a feature film. Vasu throws a party with friends including Keerthi. At the end, Keerthi shares a kiss goodbye, but he pulls her into his room, and they kiss passionately. In the heat of the moment, he zones out and calls out a name Rosie, Sai Pallavi, which makes Keerthi believe he is cheating and she ends the relationship. Disturbed, Vasu resolves to focus on the film, hoping to move on.

A year later, the feature Uniki is released and becomes a success. Vasu is approached to remake the film in Hindi, but during a Mumbai press conference for the project, he is arrested on charges of copyright infringement. A prominent Kolkata publishing house, SR Publications, claims that Vasu copied their best-selling novel Astitva by Shyam Singha Roy from fifty years earlier. In court, strong evidence is presented against Vasu, and Keerthi’s cousin Padmavathi, Madonna Sebastian, takes up the case. Vasu pleads his innocence, and after a successful polygraph test, he is released on unconditional bail with three days to present his side. Following Keerthi’s suggestion, Vasu undergoes a new test in Tamil Nadu with the help of her psychology professor, during which he reveals that he was Shyam Singha Roy in a past life and Rosie was his wife.

In the flashback to 1969, West Bengal, Shyam Singha Roy is an influential social reformer and revolutionary writer with communist ideals, who comes from a conservative family. When his family disapproves of his methods, he leaves home and meets Maitreyi, a devadasi from what was then East Pakistan. Although an atheist, Shyam visits the temple to see her, and they fall for each other. They elope, and he renames Maitreyi as Rosie. A devout priest, Mahant, who sexually preys on devadasis, tries to control them; Rosie resists, and Mahant’s anger leads to a brutal confrontation. After a violent clash at the Navaratri festival, Shyam seizes a sword, defeats Mahant, and, in a brutal act, kills him and frees Rosie from her subservient role, a grim turning point that leads them to move to Calcutta, where Shyam starts a printing press.

By 1977, Shyam has become a famous yet controversial writer. On Rosie’s suggestion, he establishes a trust to rehabilitate devadasis. Their younger brother Manoj invites Shyam to visit their village when their elder brothers threaten the family’s name. The visit ends in tragedy: the elder brothers conspire to murder Shyam for marrying Rosie and bringing dishonor to the caste. Manoj arrives too late to save Shyam, who dies in front of him; the elder brothers die in an accident years later, and Shyam’s nephews later run SR Publications, the publishing house connected to his legacy.

Back in the present, Vasu visits the Kolkata printing press where Shyam once worked. He learns that Rosie has left to search for him. Padmavathi submits Vasu’s hypnosis report as evidence that Shyam Singha Roy reincarnated as Vasu, but the prosecution objects, arguing there is no scientific basis for reincarnation. Just as the court is about to rule, an 85-year-old Manoj visits and declares that Vasu is Shyam’s reincarnation. When asked for proof, Manoj explains that Vasu adapted Shyam’s short story Varna into his film Varnam, though the story was never published in the public domain. Manoj presents Shyam’s hand-written manuscript as corroborating evidence and withdraws the case, allowing Vasu to be acquitted.

Manoj then reveals that Rosie is alive and waiting for Vasu. He visits an aged Rosie, who now runs a dance school named after Shyam. When they meet, an emotional reunion follows, and at her request, Rosie dies peacefully in his arms, closing the circle of a life that bridged two generations and two identities.