Baandhon

Dandeswar and Hkawni are both seventy-three and live on the outskirts of Guwahati, grudgingly urging each other toward a divorce. They ask Jatin, a former tenant and now a successful lawyer and family friend, to file the petition. Jatin knows it is only a passing phase and advises them to live separately in two bedrooms of their bungalow.

Their only son and daughter-in-law died in an accident years ago, and their grandson Pona, who studies at IIT Bombay, is their only family. When Pona cuts off a call in mid-conversation and then cannot be reached, the timing coincides with the terror attacks of 26 November 2008 in Mumbai. The couple travels to the city to look for him.

Barua directed and wrote the film, which was produced by the Assam State Film (Finance and Development) Corporation. The cast includes Bishnu Kharghoria, Bina Patangia, Jatin Bora and Zerifa Wahid. There are no songs, only a background score by Dhrubajyoti Phukan. The story is set mostly in Guwahati before shifting to Mumbai for its climax.

Baandhon opened in Assam on 26 October 2012 and in selected PVR theatres across India on 5 July 2013. It won the Best Feature Film in Assamese award at the 60th National Film Awards, and Best Film in the Indian Films Competition at the Bengaluru International Film Festival for 2012, with a plaque and a cash prize of four lakh rupees. It opened the feature section of the Indian Panorama at the 43rd International Film Festival of India and was also shown at the International Film Festival of Kerala and the Mumbai Film Festival in 2012.

In Jahnu Barua's filmography, Baandhon came after Konikar Ramdhenu (2002) and Tora (2004) and was followed by Ajeyo (2014) and Bhoga Khirikee (2018).