3 college kids decide to help kids stuck in the dirty world of child labour by Demonstrating courage and smart use of technology.
Delhi, the capital of India, is a bustling metropolis teeming with migrants from across the country, who arrive here seeking better prospects for themselves and their families. The affluent and the poor rub shoulders here, but live in separate worlds at a safe distance from each other. From the street vendor to the construction worker and the night watchman, the services rendered by the impoverished immigrant population help sustain a professional, salaried class who are least bothered about the less fortunate around them. Even the urban, educated youth today are widely perceived as more interested in their own careers and the latest trends in fashion and technology, than about the social problems plaguing the country.
Neele Gagan ke Tale is a film inspired by true events, which runs counter to the above narrative. It tells the story of three young friends at a college in Delhi whose lives take an unexpected turn when they stumble upon an organized racket trapping young slum kids in their vicinity into child labour.
Jyotsana and Devika are best friends and classmates in college. Jyotsana is studious and strong-willed, while Devika wears a casual and carefree attitude on her sleeve. Together they manage to get their studies done and have their fair share of fun too. When not attending classes, their favourite haunts are the college canteen and the municipal park nearby, where they lounge around for hours. During their frequent visits to the park, they strike friendship with plucky 12-year-old Jyoti from the slum nearby, who sells grilled corn at the park. One morning they meet Jyoti as usual at the park, only to find her badly bruised from head to toe. Though Jyoti quickly brushes their queries aside, saying that she had fallen from the stairs, Jyotsana and Devika find something amiss about her. Their doubts are further heightened when they fail to find Jyoti at the park on their subsequent visits.
Jyotsana and Devika share their perplexity with their trusted friend from college, Shekhar, who suggests that they together visit the slum where Jyoti lives and investigate things further. The trio visit the slum and soon find out that not just Jyoti, but many young kids from the slum work part-time at a local factory manufacturing steel ware. Not only are the kids illegally employed in unhygienic conditions at the factory, they also have to face constant abuse from their supervisor at work. This revelation comes as a shock to Jyotsana, Devika and Shekhar, who now put their heads together and decide to help the kids. What follows then is a thrilling story of undercover investigation, witnessing the murky underside of urban growth, and a risky run-in with unscrupulous cops, all leading up to a final, decisive conclusion. Will the youngsters find the courage and tenacity within themselves to take on the might of the illegal trade that exploits child labour?
