The enigmatic but vivid imagery of this loosely plotted film is based on a similarly evocative novel by the Italian author Antonio Tabucchi, Noturno Indiano. An old friend of the hero's has been living in Bombay with a prostitute. His friend Peter Schlemihl (Otto Tausig) is a concentration camp survivor, who went to India after being captivated by a photograph he saw there. When the prostitute writes to him in Europe asking that he rescue his friend from a mysterious malaise, he flies into India to try and help. When he gets to Bombay, he discovers that his friend has disappeared. Following the clues left behind by the friend, and based on his acquaintance with him, he journeys to Madras to speak to a Theosophist dignitary there, and then journeys on to Portugues Goa. With each step of his journey, the hero (Jean-Hugues Anglade) becomes more identified with his friend, and re-enacts in his own person the transformations he must have experienced.
Jean-Hugues Anglade
as Rossignol/Xavier
Clémentine Célarié
as Christine
Otto Tausig
as Peter Schlemihl
T.P. Jain
as Le docteur
Iftekhar
as Le professeur de théosophie
Dipti Dave
as Vimla Sar
Ratna Bhooshan
as La patronne de l'hôtel Khajurao
Tinku Parma
as L'écolière
Vijay Kashyap
as La réceptionniste de l'hôtel Mandovi
Jaspal Sandhu
as Le chauffeur du bus
Ashok Banthia
as Le chauffeur du taxi de l'hôpital
Vijai Gautam
as Le serveur de l'hôtel Mandovi
