Workers, politicians, students, teachers, housewives, politicians and industrialists speak forcefully on what impact these measures have had on them - giving a panoramic view of Indian society at the crossroads of the 21st century. The raw energy and dynamism of the film arises from the passionate and vigorous views of ordinary people who are never taken into confidence with respect to decisions which effect their lives and who are considered illiterate, ignorant and incapable of thinking. At the other extreme such important figures as the finance minister and top industrialists hold forth on these reforms. Through interviews with striking workers, industrial leaders, and political spokesman, the documentary attempts to demonstrate how six years since the implementation of India's economic reforms the rich have gotten richer but the poor are no better off than before. But Bose also has a surprise in store for the viewer.
Bose interviews complain that most foreign products are beyond their means.
Only the rich, the top one percent of the population, can afford those luxury items, they grouse. If the middle class is disaffected, the workers are bitter. With the reforms, wages were expected to go up. Apparently nothing of this sort has happened and, according to Bose's statistics, since liberalization, real wages have relatively stayed the same. It's unemployment that has skyrocketed.