Tahaan 2008

After salvaging money through various schemes, Tahaan reaches the moneylender to reclaim Birbal, his cherished donkey. He is told that the elderly Subhan Daar bought the donkey and headed across the mountains—the same range where Tahaan’s father had disappeared. With renewed resolve, Tahaan sets out to find the old man. He tracks him down and follows Subhan and his assistant Zafar along a mule train, keeping Birbal close despite their protests.

Subhan promises to return Birbal to Tahaan if he can win a race against the seemingly inept Zafar, but even after Tahaan triumphs, Subhan refuses to hand over the donkey. Instead, he gives Birbal to his eight-year-old nephew. In a bid to placate the boy, Zafar offers Tahaan his sunglasses as a substitute for the donkey, but Tahaan does not accept the gift.

On the long journey home, Tahaan meets Idrees, a teenager who tries to dampen his spirits, telling him that his efforts alone won’t be enough to reclaim Birbal. Instead, Idrees proposes a favor in disguise. Tahaan is asked to carry a package across the mountains during his onward trip. Seeing Tahaan’s eagerness, Idrees places a grenade in his hands and hints that the right moment will come when he’s told what to do. At a checkpoint, the soldiers know Subhan Daar and the package and grenade go unnoticed.

Tahaan teeters on the edge of a fateful act, about to trigger the grenade, but he changes his mind and hurls it into a river rather than using it. In a dramatic turn, he then witnesses his father emerge from the building he had almost destroyed. Subhan’s nephew learns that Tahaan has a soft spot for Birbal, and at his request, Subhan finally returns the donkey to Tahaan.