The film is the directorial debut of actress Nandita Das[1][2] and stars Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Inaamulhaq, Nassar, Paresh Rawal, Sanjay Suri, Raghubir Yadav, Shahana Goswami, Amruta Subhash, and Tisca Chopra.

Khan Saheb (Naseeruddin Shah) is an elderly Muslim classical vocalist who remains blissfully optimistic of the situation happening around him.

His servant, Karim Mian (Raghubir Yadav), tries to alert him to the problems the Muslim community is facing, but Khan Saheb only realises the extent of the trauma upon seeing the destruction of a shrine dedicated to the Sufi saint, Wali Gujarati.

Muneera (Shahana Goswami) and her husband Hanif (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) are a young Muslim couple who return home only to find it looted and burnt.

Muneera struggles to relate to her Hindu neighbour Jyoti (Amruta Subash) in the following days, as she suspects her of taking part in the looting.

Sameer Shaikh (Sanjay Suri) and Anuradha Desai (Tisca Chopra) are a wealthy, interreligious couple whose store was burnt during the carnage.

Gautam Sen for "its perfect use of props and choice of colours to enhance the ambience of a post-riots" won National Film Award for Best Art Direction.