The Strike

Twelve-year-old Hari tries to make sense of his tumultuous and complex world in 1980s India. His experiment at eating fish leads to the accidental death of his grandmother; his preference for Hindi over his mother tongue Tamil leads to slanderous graffiti against his family in Madras; and his friendship with the family maid lands him in trouble with a militant Tamil film fan and political functionary called Vishu.
Matters come to a head when MGR, a film star turned politician dies and his supporters led by Vishu declare a strike, trapping Hari and his mother in a train bound for Madras.