VIRUDDH Directed by: Mahesh V. Manjrekar Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham and Anusha Dhandekar Cert: 12A Contains moderate violence Runtime: 2 hours 12 mins UK Release date 22 July 2005

Viruddh is a story of a person who accidentally witnesses a criminal act and loses his life in his attempting to intervene.

Viruddh is a story of standing up against a well-established paradigm of power in defence of his/her convictions. It is about dissent, refusal of fear and of extraordinary courage and tenacity under extreme pressure and adversity.

Viruddh is also about an ordinary sixty plus couple who are forced to search for their faith in human values and society after the death of their only son. In this process they undergo the most testing struggle of their lives.

The ingredients of Viruddh and its theme are universally identifiable. Set in the networked and global milieu, it tells a tale that has classical elements and structure and can be relocated in almost any context.

The film expresses individual and social vulnerability in the face of a corrupt system and how this equation continues to be the same even as the ways of the society change.