Before The Rains (12A)

Santosh Sivan's English-language debut, backed by Merchant Ivory, looks back on India's inchoate steps towards independence in the late 1930s. An ambitious young man, T K Neelan (Rahul Bose) finds himself torn between loyalties old and new after his British boss (Linus Roache) is revealed to be having an affair with a local girl (Nandita Das). The fateful gift of a revolver will come back to haunt both men. Jennifer Ehle makes a welcome appearance as Roache's deceived wife, though acting honours go to Bose, his face an eloquently shifting register of shame, calculation and sympathy.