‘Nona Pani- Barren Waters’ is a story of people who do not have a tale worth telling—at least by themselves. Affected by the impact of climate change such as Cyclone Aila, the trauma of internal migration and dislocation, change of profession, silent cries for self-identity, and the film tells the story of some rural but universal characters. They have a life to live but no command of their own destiny. Romba, Doshpai, and Krishna represent life in the small village of Botkhali, near the Sundarbans, Southwestern Bangladesh. The narrative is non-linear in structure. Like netting the eggs of shrimps from the river, the film also collates numbers of fractions of their lives. The film tries to collect the inner and external split of the personality of the protagonists without drawing any conclusion. The performance of Jatra in the film gives the film a ‘film within a film’ characteristic.
