Daraar 1996

Vikram is an intensely suspicious and abusive husband who cannot control his anger, and his violence colors every moment of his marriage. He repeatedly attacks his wife, Priya Bhatia, striking the woman she becomes after their wedding and even resorting to murder when a doctor who tended to Priya and cared for her blind mother tries to help. The film opens with this toxic dynamic, laying out a chilling at-home menace that shadows Priya’s every move.

When a birthday celebration aboard a boat turns chaotic and a storm engulfs the vessel, Priya seizes a desperate chance to escape. The shipwreck-like turmoil ends with her swimming back to shore, and she makes her way to Shimla, a place that promises safety and distance from the life she has known. In this hill town, she encounters Raj Malhotra, a man who falls for her at first sight, even as she keeps him at arm’s length. Raj’s affection is steady and hopeful, a stark contrast to the fear and confusion Priya carries with her.

Priya’s mother urges openness, insisting that truth could determine Raj’s choice to stay or walk away. In a bid to be honest, Priya writes a letter detailing the past she wants to leave behind and the marriage that binds her. She entrusts Hari to deliver the note to Raj, a plan that sets off a chain of misunderstandings when the letter is misplaced. A substitute letter surfaces, nothing but a poem, and Raj reads it as if it confirms Priya’s unavailability. The lapse strains their budding relationship, leaving Raj to question whether love can survive such hidden truths.

After a turn of fate, Hari discovers the original letter and passes it along to Raj, who is moved again by Priya’s story. This time, his feelings deepen, and he finds himself drawn back to the possibility of a life with her, deciding to marry her and embrace the chance for a truthful partnership. But the shadow of the past lingers behind them, and the fear that Priya’s husband might still disrupt their lives never fully fades.

Meanwhile, the stormy currents of the past reach Shimla when Vikram discovers Priya’s photo in a newspaper and learns that she lives. He cancels a planned trip to Goa and heads north, intent on locating her. In Shimla, the truth of Priya’s new life becomes public knowledge as she prepares for a wedding of her own. Vikram’s violence resurges with renewed intent: he attempts to eliminate Raj but fails, and then Lore begins to twist as he falsely accuses Raj of attempted murder, landing the latter in prison. The danger intensifies when Vikram targets Priya directly, killing her friend and then turning his sights on the woman he blames for his own ruin.

The climax brings a stark confrontation between Raj and Vikram as Raj fights to prove his innocence and to guard Priya from the danger Vikram represents. In a tense showdown, Raj drowns Vikram in a bathtub filled with water, and the immediate danger seems to end with Vikram’s death or at least a definitive submission to the consequences of his actions. The lovers, now free from his grasp, flee to a railway station, hoping for a future together. But the threat remains as Vikram chases them, and in a devastating moment, his foot becomes ensnared on the tracks as a train bears down.

Priya works to save him, risking her own life to pull him clear as the oncoming train nears. In a final, haunting gesture, Vikram pushes her away just before the train roars past, declaring, > Today I free you from all bonds

The film closes on a note that mixes tragedy, resilience, and a hard-won, if uneasy, sense of liberation. The story traces the arc of a woman who survives abuse, finds a path toward honesty and love, and faces a last, grim test of loyalty and sacrifice. It asks difficult questions about forgiveness, the costs of freedom, and the price of seeking a life beyond fear, all set against a backdrop of dramatic northern landscapes, tense suspense, and a cast that navigates the emotional complexity with a steady, measured performance.