Actor Om Puri's latest film "The Hangman", produced by an Indian-American film studio in New Jersey, is ready for release.

"The Hangman", an English language film directed by Vishal Bhandari, is a story of crime and punishment, centred round a man who has executed hundreds of criminals, said Bipin Patel, president of the film's producer Akshar Media.

Akshar Media is an independently owned film studio that finances and produces films. Based in Springfield, New Jersey, Patel started the company in January 2003 to produce cinema and television content.

A.M. Films is planning to invest over $5 million in the next two years on various projects, he added.

Forced into a line of work that his father and forefathers were born into, Shiva (Om Puri) battles the social stigma surrounding his unique profession of a hangman.

"Even as he precisely and methodically performs his duties by preparing his ropes, cleaning the scaffold and testing the levers, he is overwhelmed by a guilty conscience.

"A simple man, with very simple thoughts, Shiva also has a simple dream: that his son Ganesh should have a better life. Shiva wants Ganesh to become a police officer," according to the film's synopsis.

"With a bittersweet ending, 'The Hangman' takes you on a journey of old traditions in a land where destiny is decided by death and reincarnations," it says.

The film also stars Gulshan Grover, Smita Jayakar, Tom Alter, Shreyas Talpade, Nazneen and Amrita Bedi.