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Souvik Gupta Logline: Not all love stories are destined to be complete... Not all tales of romance end with the Prince and Princess staying happily ever after... Some end with a wait, a yearning to meet the other, a hope to remember always... Tobu Mone Rekho is such a tale where the love story ends but the love lingers on, with a hope to come back with fond memories to cherish lifelong... *** Synopsis: The story begins as we see Lieutenant Mayukh Ganguly lying on the ground, bleeding, with bullets pierced through his body. As he is lying there, Mayukhs voiceover starts, as if he is reading out a letter to someone he loves. The story flashes back to the first meeting between Mayukh and Ayesha in Meghalaya. Backpacking through the North Eastern hilly terrains, Mayukh and his best friend (Soham) suddenly hear shrieks of help and reach the spot to find a group of young guys trying to pull up one of their friends. Thats the first time Mayukh sees Ayesha, as he narrates how one of her mates was inebriated and had lost his balance while standing at the edge of the road. With Sohams help, Mayukh ties a rope around himself and gets down and drags the boy up. Mayukh stays with his entire family stays in their old ancestral home on Dover Lane. His father, Mrinal Ganguly (50), is a branch manager with a government and keeps pestering his son to appear for Bank PO exams. His mother, Tillottama Ganguly (47), is a house-wife and all her concerns are about his two children as she wants to see them secured in their professional and personal lives. The only person in the family who

understands Mayukhs passion is his sister Tista (18). Whenever Mayukh is scolded by his father for being irresponsible about his career and family, Tista makes some excuse and saves his skin. The brother-sister duo shares an amazing rapport. In the meanwhile, Tista receives an invitation to attend the wedding of a friends elder brother, to be held in Asansol. Her friend comes over to invite Tista and seeking permission to take her along. Initially, Tillottama agrees but when she hears the venue is at Asansol, she starts panicking. She talks to her husband, who also expresses concern. Tista realises that the only way she could get permission is by taking her brother along for security. Initially, Mayukh bluntly refuses to go to the wedding. But after a lot of coaxing, Mayukh finally agrees to go along with his sister as a bodyguard. The Ganguly family finally relents. Once in Asansol, Mayukh has nothing to kill time in the new place and is totally bored. He roams around the city by himself when, for the first time, he sees Ayesha on the streets of Asansol. Ayesha is 21 years of age chirpy, sweet and extremely pretty. She is sitting in an auto-rickshaw when Mayukh sees her. Almost at first sight, Mayukh falls head-over-heels in love with her. He goes to a auto-driver to chase her auto-rickshaw but the latter bluntly refuses as he is busy having tea. Seeing the vacant rickshaw, Mayukh confiscates it and chases the rickshaw. Despite his best efforts to match up, he soon loses sight of the auto-rickshaw and she goes away. Dejected, Mayukh returns to the venue. In the evening, when Tista comes to take him along to the wedding, he refuses saying that he isnt feeling well. But Tista convinces him to come along and he finally dresses up and attends the function. He roams around the venue aimlessly, eating something or the other, when he sees her again. This time, all decked up, Ayesha looks ravishing in her bright dress. Mayukh could hardly get his eyes off her. This time, Mayukh employs his sister to find out about her and she comes back with the information that Ayesha is from the brides party. Tista realises her brothers sudden interest in the girl and pesters him to go and have a

word with her. She even takes initiative to get someone to introduce the two of them. Mayukh nips both her plans and declares that he would talk to her himself. However, despite a strong urge, Mayukh cannot bring himself to introduce to the girl and she goes away. Mayukh and Tista return home. While the former sulks over the missed opportunity, the latter scolds him for being such a coward. They drop the discussion when they reach home. When Mayukh and Tista return home, they are informed that the house is being vacated for renovation, and the family would be shifting as tenants to an adjacent neighbourhood. While Mayukh is upset that he has to leave the lanes that are a part of his life, Tillottama Ganguly was worried that her new landlords are Muslims. Mrinal Ganguly convinces his family that all of this is for a very short time and theres nothing to sceptical about the religious differences as the landlords family is very cordial. Still unwilling, Mayukh helps his family pack the belongings and shift to the Ballygunge Phari two storey building where they would stay for the coming one year. While the packers are shifting the goods, Mayukh stands at the gate overseeing the activity, when he sees her again. Mayukh is helping one of the guys pick up a good when at one corner of his eye, he sees Ayesha. For a millisecond, the incident fails to sink in but immediately he turns back and sees Ayesha coming towards them. Mayukh almost drops the pack but the packer manages it at the last moment. Ayesha comes towards him and stops at the gate. Mayukh looks at her vaguely, wondering what she would say. She signals him to move aside and give her a way. He finally realises that she stays there. Ayesha introduces herself as the daughter of the landlord. Mayukh cant believe his luck. But he tries to suppress the excitement within himself. As they shake hands and she departs into the building, Ayesha turns once before entering the building as they smile at each other. Mayukh breaks into a 2nd song his dream about Ayesha. (to be shot at KL).

When Tista sees Ayesha, she realises its the same girl they had seen at Asansol and her brother had fallen in love with. Ayeshas parents Imtiaz and Shabana are middle aged couple. They are well behaved and treat the Ganguly-s with respect. However, Ayeshas elder brother Nahib seems a rude and arrogant guy. Days pass by. Ayesha passes her graduation and starts working with a small firm. Ayesha and Mayukh meet almost everyday. They become cordial but nothing brews strongly between the two of them. He keeps on trying to get her attention in some ways or the other, and sometimes succeeds while at other times, she passes along smiling. Life is a dreamy roller coaster ride, and he is just enjoying every moment of it.

In the meanwhile, one of his friends introduces Mayukh to a leading cinematographer of the industry Shiladitya Bose fondly called Shila Da by everyone. Shila Da is late 30-ish, short, bulky, bachelor and highly affable. Mayukh becomes fond of the DOPs humble disposition someone who has achieved a lot of fame and yet extremely down to earth. Shila Da even cracks jokes on his past-prime age saying, Shila ar je jawaan roilo na! He takes a liking for Mayukhs earnestness towards film-making despite having a technical qualification. What Shila Da likes even more is that Mayukh is focussed and doesnt want to take up acting though Mayukh is handsome enough to give the heroes a run for their money. Shila Da promises to do something for Mayukh and soon gives him an offer to join one of his films as an Assistant Director. The ball starts rolling for Mayukh. Now that he has got his first job, Mayukh realises its the best time to tell Ayesha about his feelings. One day, while returning from his work, Mayukh sees Ayesha standing on the streets, waiting for a cab. He offers her a lift on his bike, and though initially reluctant, she finally agrees. On the ride, Mayukh tries to hatch a conversation but Ayesha seems shy to talk. He tries to be funny at times but that doesnt work. She seems more

tensed as they come closer to home. Finally, with only little distance away from home, Ayesha asks him to stop the bike and gets down. She is afraid that her parents might not take it too well if they find her riding on his bike, and guess too many things out of it. This takes Mayukh with surprise but he restrains from saying anything. For a few days, Mayukh decides to avoid Ayesha. But the thought of being away from her turns out to be too difficult and painful. Finally, one day, when Ayesha is going out for office, Mayukh follows her. He stops her on the road and proposes her on that spot. Ayesha is taken aback by the sudden confession of love from Mayukh. She doesnt understand how to react. She looks around to gauge if others have witnessed the scene. Realising that Mayukh will not be easily convinced, she doesnt take the discussion forward. But she doesnt turn it down totally either. She asks him to meet her at CCD Park Street in the evening. Throughout the day, Mayukh prepares himself for the meeting. On the other hand, Ayesha thinks how she would confront Mayukh and what all she should tell him. Finally, when they meet, both of them seem equally ill at ease. Finally, Mayukh hatches the topic and ends up apologising for being so rash in this entire thing. She tries to convince Mayukh that its all infatuation. After all, he hardly knows her to be in love with her. Mayukh tries to convince but in vain, and finally at the end, they decide to stay as friends and not bring this episode to hinder their relation. They also agree to meet whenever they find time but not oneself on the other. The plan sounds feasible and they agree to stick to it and stay as good friends. Ayesha also explains that her father would never accept Mayukh as sonin-law. Not only does he belong to another religion but he is also from a profession which none in their family likes, including herself. Mayukh is surprised that despite being a modern girl of the young generation, Ayesha is not fond of movies of any language. In fact, she has seen an all together of 6 movies till now. Mayukh decides to educate her about films, though she doesnt show much interest. Mayukh also jokes about her mixed accent while speaking Bengali, though the speech is correct. They

spend the evening chatting, without realising that time has flown by quickly and they have totally lost track of it. Finally, Mayukh gives Ayesha a lift as they move back homewards. She again gets off at the same spot. Though Mayukh is irritated, Ayehsa tells him that neither of their families will like the idea that she is coming home on his bike. As she is about to leave, Mayukh cannot control himself from making a strange request. He says, now that they are friends, if he could give her a friendly hug! She is baffled and though she gives him an angry look, she relents and gives him a brief hug before quickly skipping back towards her home. Mayukh cant believe that she actually keeps his request. He looks with amazed eyes at his own hands which had just embraced her. As he jumps in glee, we break into our 3rd song. It goes on as a background score while we see a montage of Mayukh and Ayesha. They start meeting pretty often. She doesnt seem to oppose. In fact, even she starts enjoying his company. Mayukh gets other offers of work and becomes known in the circuit. He gets a couple of passes for a premiere show of a movie and asks her to come along but she turns down the offer. They even send messages to each other to coordinate their meeting on the terrace every night and talk to each other at length, away from prying eyes. At times, Nahib comes dangerously close to catching them but they skilfully avoid it. Almost as soon as the song ends, Mayukh receives a call from Ayehsa saying that she wants to discuss something important. He dresses up, buys a bouquet of flowers and they meet at their scheduled place Floatel. When they meet there, Ayesha informs that her marriage has been fixed. All hell breaks loose. Ayehsa tries to present herself in the most composed and matured way, but Mayukh turns red in anger. There is a tinge of doubt in her which she tries very hard to conceal. In fact, she herself seems to be torn apart in her dilemma but there is desperation to look normal and calm. Mayukh gets so pissed off with this pretentious act

of hers that he shouts her and asks her to get lost and marry whomever she wants. She is upset, controls her tears and walks away. The marriage preparations start. On the other hand, the Ganguly-s get their old house redone and ready for possession. So, they leave and move back to their original home. Not being able to meet Ayesha anymore, Mayukh feels sad and desperate to see her again. He finds a friend in Shila Da who not only consoles him but also encourages him to try and get his love back. The middle aged man invites Mayukh over for a drink and explains how his own life has been vacant due to the lack of a life partner. Mayukh returns home and finds a card on the centre table about Ayeshas wedding. Everyone in the family seems excited to go there. Only Tista realises that her brother is sad, but even she is not fully aware of the details. The Ganguly-s arrive at the wedding but Mayukh makes an excuse and avoids attending it. Tista goes and meets Ayesha and informs that Mayukh hasnt come. As the wedding rituals are being conducted, the qazi asks the bridegroom and the latter says Yes. When Tistas turn arrives, she falls in a dilemma. Finally, after repeated asking, she says No. There is a sudden brouhaha among the invitees. Ayeshas parents are extremely embarrassed. They shout at her while her in-laws express shock. Even the Ganguly-s are surprised and they hardly realise why Ayesha has called off her own wedding. Ayesha gets up and walks out of the house only to see Mayukh standing at the gate. Almost in an impulse, she bursts out crying and runs ahead to hug him. Everyone looks on with surprise and anger as Mayukh and Ayesha hug each other tightly pats her head to console.

INTERMISSION

The two families sit for discussion. Both Ayesha and Mayukhs parents express concern over the fact that their children had held this entire thing as a secret from them. Nahib is furious and breaks out shouting at

Mayukh. But, Imtiaz calms him down. Ayesha sits quietly while Mayukh sits on another chair, not saying anything. However, as the discussion progresses between the parents, they start losing their cool. They start blaming the other party for being negligent and the other kid for being the culprit in hatching the entire ploy. Things take an ugly turn. Both Ayesha and Mayukh try to make their parents understand, but nothing pays off. The meeting ends on an ugly note and finally the Ganguly-s leave. In isolation, each family shouts at its kid for being so careless so as to fall for such a thing. While the mothers weep at the failure of their upbringing, the fathers take sterner steps and declare that they would never let a wedding happen between Ayesha and Mayukh. At night, when Ayesha is alone in her room, she sees Mayukh at the window. For once, she thinks she is dreaming but soon realises that its true. Mayukh had climbed up to their terrace and had attached a rope to get down to her window. She quickly goes up to the terrace and the lovers hug each other. They both express how badly they wanted to see the other. Ayesha confesses how she has always been in love with Mayukh. She had also noticed him at the wedding in Asansol. She had also been fond of him since and when she saw him standing at the gate on the first day, her heart had also skipped a beat. But as Mayukh pretended to be stranger, she didnt say anything either. When Mayukh had proposed to her, she was afraid that he might have found out her feelings for him. Because at heart, he knew none of this could have been possible. And when Mayukh apologised at CCD, she fell madly in love with him. Mayukh cant control smiling as he cant even believe Ayesha has been hiding so much in her heart for so long. Mayukh just bends over and kisses her. The next time, she responds and they kiss passionately. We break into our next song which is a full-fledged romantic song on the two. Mayukh asks her to run away with him the very moment and ensures that he would arrange something for both of them. But she refuses. Ayesha

clarifies that she has already taken such a drastic step. Now, she cant run away and shatter her parents lives altogether. She says that they would marry only with the consent of their families. However, she is also confident that we would be able to convince their parents about it eventually. Mayukh is a bit sceptical about it but he agrees with her and promises to make his parents understand their perspective. They hug for another time when suddenly Nahib appears on the roof. Nahib shouts at them and charges in to hit Ayesha. But Mayukh stops him and a fight ensues between the two guys. Mayukh being a boxer, easily dodges and hits Nahib and knocks him down. Ayesha shouts to control them. In the meanwhile, the senior Khan-s come up and stop the fight. Despite Ayeshas requests, Imtiaz Khan calls the cops and files a complaint against Mayukh for breaking into their house and hitting his son. Mrinal Ganguly reaches Police Station to take his son out and shouts at him for making his father embarrassed like that. Mayukh comes home. The next day, he gets a call from Shila Da asking him to come over to a studio and meet Anjan Dutta for a movie. Mayukh is super excited and rushes off. Anjan Dutta narrates that he has heard good things about Mayukh from others in the industry. The legendary director says that he is making a new genre film and needs a young newer thinking guy on board and offers Mayukh the role of Associate Director. Mayukh is just too happy to accept it. Anjan gives Mayukh a copy of the script and asks him to go through it. The pre-prod is to start in a week and shoot in another month. Mayukh calls Ayesha to give her the news but she doesnt seem too happy with the thing. She congratulates him but doesnt show a lot of enthusiasm. Mayukh asks her to meet him that evening. She agrees. They meet at Shila Das flat. For the first time, they are meeting at a deserted flat. Till then, they have always met at public places and this is the first time that they feel like a couple actually hiding from the flat. Mayukh cooks a meal as they sit and have dinner. Ayesha narrates how she has lied about an office project and come there. But at the same time,

she is sceptical how long they could possibly go on like this. Her problems might come into the way of his career. And convincing her family about him would be tough. Mayukh rubbishes off all her fears and says that everything will fall into place eventually. He has got a huge project in hand and things will only get better. That night, for the first time, Ayesha and Mayukh make love. As he gets up and readies to drop her home, she looks upset wondering if it were the last time they would meet like this. Mayukh gets upset by the comment but she cheers him up. That night, he again drops her at the same place as he used to earlier. But when she walks away, there is a grief in her eyes which scares him. He looks on vaguely as she tries to smile but cannot. There is something odd about the walk and he could read that. The work for the movie starts. He meets her outside the office before leaving for the train to Darjeeling. She wishes him the best for the film but there is a huge drop in her enthusiasm. Mayukh asks her if something is wrong but she denies. The shoot continues in Darjeeling. One day while shooting, Mayukhs phone suddenly starts ringing. He brings out to see Ayesha calling. Mayukh cancels the call but it rings again. Mayukh gets scolded by Anjan Dutt for being so careless and the latter threatens to cancel the shoot. Mayukh apologises and Shila Da speaks in his favour. Eventually, Mayukh switches off the phone and keeps it inside. On the other side, Ayesha is in a deep crisis. In flashback, we see her sitting at the table when she has an argument with her father. We dont hear their voices but only see them arguing. Finally, Ayesha gets up from her chair and leaves the room. A few days later, they have another guy coming to their house. They ask Ayesha to go and meet the guy. Another small fight ensues. Finally, one day, while Ayesha is in her room, her mother keeps running. She enters her parents room and finds her father, lying on the floor and wreathing in pain. She makes a call. Next, they rush into a nursing home and admit her father.

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Cut to present: We see Ayesha sitting on the bed and calls up Mayukh. Finally, out of frustration, she keeps her phone off and walks into her fathers room and accepts to get married. They are overjoyed and she asks to invite the guy again. When Mayukh switches his phone on, he sees an sms waiting for him. It was Ayesha and she had written if she could come over to Darjeeling and stay with him. Mayukh calls her back immediately but her cell is switched off. Mayukh asks Shila Da to arrange a couple of days break for him. He tells that there must be an emergency at Ayeshas place and he should be there before its too late. Mayukh lands back at Kolkata and makes his way into her room just the way he had done earlier. Ayesha is shocked to see him. She meets him at the rooftop and tells him that its over between the two of them. Ground seems to crack beneath Mayukhs feet. Ayesha tells him that things are getting worse and she is not being able to manage both ends. Mayukh tries to explain and he walks down to meet her family. He tells them that he would take Ayesha away with himself right then. They are furious and Nahib charges ahead to hit Mayukh. But Ayesha intervenes and stops the fight. She explains to them that she would make him understand. Ayesha stands at the gate and explains to him that this would not work out for them. Mayukh doesnt understand. But Ayesha tells him that he has greater things at stake and not focus on someone as confused as she is, for she could spoil his life further. Mayukh shouts and says he would decide what is good for them. Despite a lot of effort, he fails to convince her and leaves. Mayukh goes back to Darjeeling. His work starts moving in full flow. A year passes by. Mayukh is seen sitting at the editing table and when a female assistant editor walks in. She is Bidisha a chirpy young girl. She is equally sincere as Mayukh. They work together to make a rough cut. They strike a rapport. We see Mayukh and Bidisha hanging out together. When Mayukh drops Bidisha in front of her home, she says that Mayukh should start working on his script. Its time Mayukh makes his own movie

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and she would be more than happy to help him in it. Mayukh acknowledges her help. Pretty soon, they start working on the story. They sit together for hours and write the script. Bidisha helps him in the storyboarding. On one of the days, Bidisha tells Mayukh that she is in love with him. Even before he could respond, she says that she is fully aware Mayukh is still very much in love with Ayesha and she could not possibly take her position. Mayukh thanks her for being such a good friend. He is flattered by her proposal and also for knowing him so well. Mayukh meets a producer. The man listens him out and offers to produce it. Mayukh meets Shila Da and gives the latter a signing cheque for being the DOP of his movie. He touches Shila Das feet and seeks his blessings. Shiladitya hugs him and says the film will be a super hit. Mayukh meets one of the leading heroes and he instantly agrees. Once thats done, Mayukh meets Bidisha and asks her to be the heroine. She doesnt pay attention and says she would be more than happy to be the editor. Mayukh convinces her that no other girl would be able to know the heroine better than her and she has to play the dual role of being the actress and the editor. Bidisha asks him to sign a popular face and an established actor for such a complex role but he is insistent. Finally, she gives in. The shooting starts at a brisk space. It becomes evident that Mayukh is making a film on the love story between Ayesha and himself. He tells the hero how to perform each of the nuances. Bidisha does a great job too and he keeps supporting his leading pair. Even the set put up is like the Khan house. The team then moves on to Kuala Lumpur to shoot for a song. They are shooting at the Old Market Square when all of a sudden, Mayukh sees Ayesha again. She is walking along with a man. She stops seeing him. For a moment, she ponders what to do. Then, she turns and asks the man to carry on. She comes back and talks to Mayukh. Mayukh and Ayesha are seen sitting at the Kuala Lumpur City Central Park. Its a long time after which they were meeting. There is a tinge of

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discomfort. Mayukh says how he has waited for so long to meet her again. He is sure that she must be happy in her marriage. To his utter surprise, she says that she hasnt married anyone. Somewhere within her, she knew she could never be happy with any other guy besides Mayukh. So, she decided not to complicate matters further and rather focus on her work. Currently, she doesnt think of anyone else. She then asks Mayukh about his life and says he must have carried on with his life with someone. Mayukh says he has moved on. He has found a very charming young girl who loves him a lot, without any inhibitions or worries about the world; someone who is extremely brave and focussed; someone who speaks Bengali with a mixed accent, someone who could break her marriage because of him that too twice. It becomes evident that Mayukh is holding on to an image of Ayesha very close to his heart. He narrates how everything in his life till now is related only and only about Ayesha. They both start crying and he asks her to marry him that very moment. After a bit of deliberation, Ayesha finally says Yes. They rush off to the nearest church. We break into the next song. Mayukh and Ayesha get married and they tour about the city like a married couple enjoying, dancing and spending their honeymoon. As the song ends, like a continuation, we Bidisha and the movies hero walking hand in hand towards the sunset. The screening of a movie ends and end credits start rolling. Mayukh is sitting in the preview theatre. Ayesha is sitting next to him. She has tears in her eyes. She expresses how much she loved the movie, though its just the 7th one she is watching. She says how she could see a better version of herself on the screen while Mayukh says that no interpretation of hers could be ever better than she herself. As they walk out, a unit guy comes running to Mayukh and tells him that reports are predicting a blockbuster. Ayesha congratulates him on the feat and is happy that she could be of some worth to him. Mayukh says that the movie is dedicated to her, and part of him is because of her.

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As they walk out, Ayesha says that she wishes their love story would have also ended like that. But that day when she saw him at KL, she was with her husband and couldnt stop to say Hello to him. Perhaps some love stories remain real because they are not happy or complete. Mayukh nods and smiles. Ayesha says that when she received the e-mail from him to come for the movie, she knew she had to. But now, she hopes Mayukh also finds someone special, someone better than her, who could stand by him and spend his life with that woman. Mayukh just smiles. Before departing, Ayesha gives him another hug and asks him to invite for his next film. With this, she turns and goes away. Mayukh says to himself that along with their story, a part of him will remain incomplete and it would be very difficult for any girl to be what Ayesha was to him. True Love knocks on our door just once and he has missed his bus. There might not be one awaiting him anymore. The camera pulls up and we see the poster of the movie Tobu Mone Rekho. The titles start rolling. With the conclusive song, we see images and clips of Mayukh and Ayesha together.

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