Roya is a middle-class Muslim woman that struggles to find herself in the sprawl of urban Bangladesh. When she discovers that she will be replaced by a younger actor for the role of Nandini —a central character of Rabindranath Tagore’s political play Red Oleanders —she battles to reconstruct the part, reclaiming her identity and sexuality in the process. As she sets the play in a modern day ready-made garment factory in Dhaka, her journey to establish her individuality is juxtaposed with the journey of her housemaid Moyna, who later joins the industrial workforce.

Shimu, 23, works in a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Faced with difficult conditions at work, she decides to start a union with her co-workers. Despite threats from the management and disapproval of her husband, Shimu is determined to go on. Together the women must fight and find a way to register their union.