Chauthi Koot evokes the atmosphere ofsuspicion, fear and paranoia of the Punjab in1980s. It considers two loosely connectedincidents: two Hindu friends trying to get toAmritsar and, some months earlier, a farmer whois told he has to kill the family dog. One storyflows into
the other and back - like a relay raceone character passing on the baton to another.What binds the two is the condition of thecommon man trapped between the excesses ofthe military on one side and the militantmovement for a separate Sikh nation on the other.