Feast of Varanasi

FEAST OF VARANASI is best described as a crime thriller centred around the ancient city of Varanasi, located on the banks of the eternal Ganges in India. Following the recent suicide of her mother, HELEN a young English teacher travels to Varanasi to spend time with her mother’s sister AGATHA. The two have never met as AGATHA has spent the last 25 years living and working as a missionary in VARANASI. As HELEN arrives the ancient city is gripped with fear following the killing of several young females that the police suspect are all linked. All the victims have been murdered in the same ritual ways, all were unmarried, in the early 20’s and all come from low caste backgrounds. Following the failure of the local police force to identify any suspects, India’s Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) takes charge of the case and send in one of finest officers ARJUN DAS, also from a low caste background. ARJUN is less muscle and more subtle in his methods, as a child he collected stamps and learned to pay attention to the smallest of details that others would overlook. His underwhelming appearance hides a man with exceptional intelligence and one who is prepared to wait for the right moment to strike. He begins to recognise the killings are linked to ancient rites and ceremonies such as Agni (fire) and sacred wedding vows. He’s also drawn to an unresolved murder case from two years earlier where two brothers were found hanged on their own farm following the death of their younger sister.