Natural disasters are a regular feature of life for people living on the coastal area of Bangladesh. This is a saga about the vicissitudes of these people and their eternal struggle for life.

During a flood in 1970, Dukhai and his family lose all their possessions. They try to keep their spirits up and seek a new shelter on a high, sandy stretch of land above the river bed. As for many others, a new life starts for Dukhai with simple pleasures and boundless love for this family. Then again he loses everything. A cyclone destroys his house and the lives of more than a million people. Like a man possessed, Dukhai runs through the remains and is confronted with the lifeless bodies of his beloved family. Dukhai is struck by shock. But life has to go on. Dukhai founds his own family while the country is torn apart by the new struggle for freedom. With the birth of his daughter Shukhai ('the happy one') Dukhai again sees light in the darkness. But on 24 May 1985 another half million people, including Dukhai's family, are killed in a storm. Should Dukhai himself also embrace death?Natural disasters are part of life in the coastal area of Bangladesh. Dukhai is a saga about the eternal struggle for life.—International Film Festival Rotterdam