Trishagni

Trishagni English titleThe Sand Storm was a 1988 Hindi film directed by Nabendu Ghosh. It marked the directorial debut of noted screenwriter of Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee classics. The film was based on a historical short story set some time after the Asokan Missions, Moru O Sangho written by Saradindu Bandopadhyay, and inspired by Buddhas Fire Sermon, and starred Nana Patekar, Pallavi Joshi and Alok Nath in the lead roles.

The film is set in the Buddhist town of Sariput in the deserts of Central Asia, around 200 B.C., when the town is struck by a devastating sandstorm that leaves behind only four survivors two monks, and two children taking refuge in the monastery. Twenty years later, the monks have aged, while the boy Nitish Bhardwaj and the girl Pallavi Joshi have grown and fall in love. The jealous monk deceitfully persuades the boy to become a monk, but the girl wins him back. As a result both are expelled from the monastery, and that is when the sandstorm strikes once again.. Gautama Buddha has fascinated me since my student days in Patna. Born a prince, he renounced every pleasure in life and set forth in quest of a Truth, a Bodha that would help mankind attain peace in his lifetime. His statues in museums generated an inner feeling of content and peace. Years later, I recognized the unique vision of Gautam Buddha when I came across his Agni Upadesh in a story in Bengali literature. The sermon says, everything in this world is burning with desire. It prompted me to make Trishagni. Yes, the universe is burning with vaasana, desire, and our mission in life should be to free ourselves from desires that consume us like fire. Only then can we achieve Nirvana a state of endless tranquility. ........

Source: Wikipedia