When his wife is brutally murdered, migrant labourer Dasru (Manoj Bajpayee) flees from Mumbai with his baby daughter back to his former home in the tribal lands in the east Indian state of Jharkhand. The police regard him as a key suspect in the case, but while Dasru maintains his innocence, he has other dark secrets festering in his homeland.

This gritty, propulsive chase thriller combines a heart-in-mouth survival story with a backdrop of simmering violence and political unrest – the tribal lands from which Dasru hails have a bloody history and are currently the target of land-grabbing mining companies. A scene-stealing Smita Tambe is terrific as a hard-bitten and ruthless local politician who has her own reasons for taking an interest in the fate of the fugitive and his child.

• This article was amended on 15 April 2024 because an earlier version referred to the character Dasru as an “immigrant” labourer when “migrant” labourer was meant.