Opening Text on a black screen

archetype

[...] innate patterns of thought and behaviour that strive

for realization within an individual's environment.
C G Jung

Archetypes are real core characters always present in the

perception of all humans. They are the model characters of
mythologies and folktales that are repeated in all the
stories narrated across the life of human civilization.

Dictionary of Writing

1 EXT. UNDEFINED ROAD WITH FOGGY BACKGROUND - DAY 1

THE SCENE OPENS in a dense grove just before dawn. A buzzing

sound of insects, or high-frequency noise, permeates the
field. The camera at ankle height moves steadily and slowly
to the source of the sound.
A pair of bathroom slippers are seen, and then a shawl. The
camera moves ahead of that to find an abandoned tab. As the
camera approaches its screen, a collage of news clippings
whizzes. Each piece of news mentions one flop series or
another or some OTT-based film. The final news site clip
blames the writers for the downgoing industry.

The camera slowly heights up. It sees a wooden writing table

on which a fat copy of Shakespeare's Complete Works is lying.
The first sunray of the day shines on the book jacket while a
dense fog accumulates in the background.

Suddenly the table begins to vibrate like a throbbing heart.

A dagger tears through the pages and the jacket from the
bottom, followed by a scream and a pool of blood gushing out
of the wound in the book.

Dense mist forms around the book. When the mist clears a
little, a woman's hand is seen to draw the dagger out. The
woman's figure recedes in the foggy background. The title
appears in blood red.

The whole screen turns red as if soaked in blood.

CUT TO:

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 2.

2 INT. PRODUCER'S OFFICE - NIGHT 2

The cursor marks a RED SWATCH on the laptop screen while

ABHIJIT's offscreen voice is heard. His hand is playing with
a NLG app trying to write a fictional ghost thriller.

ABHIJIT
This is how I colour-code each
character according to their action,
Shyambabu. It helps.

SHYAMBABU
When I started producing films, Mr Jha
was the director. He never brought a
script to the table.

SHYAMBABU points his hand to an empty chair around the table

and continues to speak.

SHYAMBABU (CONT'D)
Let him come.

Abhijit switches to his IMDb page uncertainly. Credits under

his name include co-writer, assistant director and production
department. He stops at the bottom of the page. Then he
switches to the character page, which shows a pyramidal
structure of the characters' power dynamics and an algorithm
written in a compiler-ready scripting format supported by
library functions.

ABHIJIT
You see, Shyambabu, every story is a
tug of war among the three options -
If, then, If not. It is just like
coding. Human genetics is like coding.
So is human psychology. We can create
real characters in real situations if
we know the language of myth.

SHYAMBABU
(In a disapproving manner)
Abhijitji, you guys are educated and
intellectual. I made money by selling
land - real estate, like my
forefathers. Let Nilanjan come. He is
my prized possession from Bollywood.

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 3.

ABHIJIT
But you see stories are organic, like
us, humans. When I developed the first
NLG at Sun Microsystem, I had little
interest in fictional structures...

There is the sound of the door opening. Shyambabu looks

behind Abhijit and smiles.

NILANJAN
Sorry, Shyamda. I'm a little late.

NILANJAN moves the sofa to sit at the right angle to both

Shyambabu and Abhijit. He looks his age, 55, but appears
elegant, polished, cunning and manipulative. There is a sign
of insanity in his eyes and body language. He has a fake
smile hovering over his face and a ponytail. From time to
time, he smokes a cigar.

SHAYAMBABU
Hello Nilanjan! Meet Abhijit.

NILANJAN
(With a condescending smile)
Have you shared the plot with him that
I mentioned to you?

SHYAMBABU
No. I was waiting for you.

Nilanjan turns to Abhijit with a derisive smile plastered on

his face.

NILANJAN
Abhijit, I have no clue how much
psychology or sociology you know. But
this is a story about exploitation,
raw ambition and surprise.

Abhijit taps on his tab and starts taking notes.

NILANJAN (CONT'D)
Brother and sister get separated
during the so-called freedom movement
of East Pakistan. After many years,
they meet without recognizing each
other. The sister is a hooker now, and
her brother is her customer. How is
it?

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 4.

While Nilanjan takes a cigar from his portmanteau bag and

lights that, Abhijit stares at him, a little shocked.

SHAYAMBABU (APPROVINGLY)
Abhijit, you must have heard of
Nilanjan. He was a leading script
mentor in Bollywood, behind so many
hit films and shows. It's my luck that
he agreed to head the creative team in
my company.

While Shyambabu is praising him, Nilanjan smiles and looks

around himself egoistically and keeps puffing his cigar. A
boy comes to serve coffee meanwhile.

Abhijit looks at both of them, picks up his coffee mug, goes

to the window and stands facing the other two.

ABHIJIT
I'll develop the one-liner and send it
to you in two days.

NILANJAN
(In a commanding voice)
Make it one day. 24 hours. Focus on
the characters' psychologies. Shyamda
told me that you are a coder. I don't
trust engineers. Let's see how you
manipulate emotions for the screen.

ABHIJIT (STEADFASTLY)
I'll try.

Nilanjan smiles derisively and lights up his cigar again.

CUT TO

3 EXT. CIGARETTE SHOP OUTSIDE SHYAMBABU'S OFFICE - NIGHT 3

Abhijit lights a cigarette up. There is a lot of wind. A hand

pats him on the back. Abhijit looks back and sees ATANU, an
old acquaintance from the industry.

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 5.

ATANU
Arre, boss! Where have you been hiding
for the last two months? Everyone in
the industry said that you got bored
with ghostwriting and assisting!

ABHIJIT
Sort of. I am trying to do something
new.

ATANU
Debut? Yeah, you deserve one. How many
years has it been? Six?

ABHIJIT
Five. After I left Tesla.

ATANU
We used to call you the nerd. But you
were the only one to structure the
shooting script in executable details
at that time.

ABHIJIT
That came from coding. If you follow
the inherent logic in any process, you
can write or do anything in the best
way possible.

ATANU
Yes, I remember. Algorithm, you called
it. You started writing with AI too.

In the distance, Nilanjan is seen to be approaching them.

NILANJAN (COLDLY)
Abhijit, don't waste time. Tomorrow at
7:00.

ABHIJIT
Sure Sir.

Nilanjan gets into his car and drives away. Atanu, surprised,
looks at Abhijit's face.

ATANU
How do you know this humbug?

ABHIJIT
Do you know him?

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 6.

ATANU
Know him? He was the creative head of
Alt Chachaji when I used to work
there. Do you know what he did?

Abhijit comes closer to Atanu. Their conversation is drowned

in the sound of traffic and ambulance.

4 EXT. IN UNDEFINED MARSHLAND NEAR THE RIVER - NIGHT 4

FOUR WOMEN and TWO MEN are conspiring about something. They
are in semi-silhouette against the faint lights in the swamp.
All of them are in a Peplos kind of ancient universal robe.

Their faces and bodies are wrapped more in darkness than

light. Every face has a unique mythical quality - chiselled,
oblong and proportionate.

The characters walk in smooth choral dance movements, almost

in ballet. It shows that their existence is in movement. They
cannot stand still.

They speak in tune, almost like chants.

FIRST WOMAN
There's a limit! Who do they think
they are?

SECOND WOMAN
What can we do, Aditi? We were the
primitives. After the incident with
the snake and the apple, nobody
trusted us with free will. Right,
Diti?

THIRD WOMAN (DITI)

So much so that I had to change my
name. From Hawwah to Aphrodite! Just
imagine! They changed the history of
my birth.

FIRST WOMAN (ADITI)

Diti, we still have our free will
intact. Let's not forget that we gave
birth to everything in the world. All
the characters that humanity
celebrated were breathed into life by
us through the seers and poets. Poets
and writers can't work without us.

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 7.

FOURTH WOMAN
Yet today's toddlers deform us through
their unimaginative crude skill of
expression. From Devdas to Twilight -
how many more years will we stay under
the domination of the Name of the
Father?

FIRST MAN
And they show us. Men! In the shadow
of His name. He, whom none ever saw.
The perpetual myth!

FIRST WOMAN (ADITI)

That will change! This is time.

SECOND MAN
They made us casual philanderers even
after we chalked out the great war of
the Kauravas. Mad lovers, they called
us. What audacity!

FIRST WOMAN (ADITI)

Today all life is centred around the
screen. The writers can't be let loose
any more. Those delusional agents
believe they are the masters of
language and truth!

ALL THE CHARACTERS TOGETHER

The rotten ones among them must be
punished. Let us take their
consciousness, their unconscious,
their language.

All the hullabaloo is wrapped up in a growing mist. Owl's

hoot and jackal's howl take over in the bluish mist.

5 INT. ABHIJIT'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 5

It is 4:30 am. Abhijit is still creating index cards of the

characters, their actions, motives, incentives and final
positions in the story.
A message pops up on his phone. Nilanjan texts, "Where is
Sita's character arc?" As Abhijit scrolls up the texts, the
previous messages are revealed. Nilanjan has asked to let
Aditi, the hooker have a late teenage daughter, Anuradha and
also a boyfriend,Krishna who would make advances to both the
mother and the daughter.

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 8.

ABHIJIT
(In frustration)
What does this moron want from me? Why
can't he go back to the Bollywood shit
he came from!

Abhijit pours another cup of coffee and keeps writing while

texts from Nilanjan keep coming to his phone.

The clock strikes 6. Abhijit has fallen asleep on the writing

table.

Abhijit is dreaming.

6 EXT. FOGGY MARSHLAND WITH SMALL FIRE TORCHES IN THE 6

BACKGROUND - NIGHT

Abhijit looks startled as he opens his eyes. He turns back as

5he hears some people talking.

In the marshland beside a river under the stars, he meets

some mysterious characters whose faces are not revealed.
These characters are the same mythical archetypes previously
shown in a grove. They are in two half-separate groups
talking about something in agitation.

A woman leaves the group and approaches Abhijit.

ABHIJIT
(Mouth gaping in surprise)
Sita!

ADITI
So you remember!

ABHIJIT
After an aeon!

ADITI
Yet you call me by the name of your
recent fictional character.

Abhijit turns around to inspect the place more closely.

ABHIJIT
You know, I always wanted to see if
civilization always advances through
evictions. Civilization always
advances through evictions.

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 9.

ADITI
And you want to do that by making
films?

ABHIJIT
The medium of the masses. The medium
of revolution.

ADITI
Do you feel that you can come to your
personal truth algorithmically? That
you must crack the design open to get
to its core? As you do in a logic
system such as Euclid's theorem?

ABHIJIT
Is there any alternative?

ADITI
Emotions and imaginations can't be
reduced to elements.

In the background, the noise of conversation becomes louder.

The other five fictional characters look at them. Abhijit is
seen pondering over Aditi's remarks.

ADITI (CONT'D)
Do you believe that I am reducible?

Abhijit shrugs. But it is seen that he is disturbed by this

comment.

ABHIJIT
You are my imagination. Repeated
dream. Yet you feel so palpable.

ADITI (CONT'D)
You wanted to be a mathematician when
you were in school. You told me. You
remember Godel. Don't you?

ABHIJIT
(Perplexed)
What about him?

ADITI
His incompleteness theorem.

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 10.

On the screen, it flashes - Godel's incompleteness theorem:

In mathematics, there are statements which are true but
cannot be proved.

Abhijit seems to be in deep thought.

ADITI
Don't think. Feel!

ABHIJIT
(His mouth opens in awe)
So you mean consciousness can't be
computed? I can never get to the core
of the structure through algorithms.

ADITI
(Smiles)
There is no structure. It is
constantly changing. It is a process
made of emotions.

ABHIJIT
But what do you want me to do?

ADITI
I need your help. We are mythical
creatures. I am your guardian angel.

ABHIJIT
You must be joking.

ADITI
No listen! This is the time of the of
another purge. You'll help me to
cleanse the world of ideas.

ABHIJIT
How?

ADITI
Nilanjan must be purged. I need your
support.

She dissolves into a ripple along with the background, like

waves breaking into millions of water particles. Abhijit
tries to hold her hand and

CUT TO:

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 11.

7 INT. ABHIJIT'S BEDROOM - DAY 7

He wakes up at the writing table due to repeated phone calls.

Sunlight washes his face. Abhijit is late for the meeting.
But he picks up the call.

ABHIJIT'S GIRLFRIEND
(On the other side)
Hi baby! Why didn't you call me last
night?

ABHIJIT
Good Morning Romi. I am poorly tied up
with the script.

ROMI
Do you mean the film script? I asked
you not to go into this.

ABHIJIT
But this has been my goal for the last
few years. You know that.

ROMI
You were getting enough from your
stints in the writers' room. Father
has the offer from the agency too.

ABHIJIT
We have discussed this a hundred
times.

ROMI
But I won't wait for you for another
hundred years. Who told you that you
must make a film to get married?

ABHIJIT
There's something called self-
actualization. You have read Abram
Maslow...

ROMI
To hell with your Abram Maslow

ROMI disconnects the call. Abhijit sits at the writing table,

ensconcing his head inside his two palms. Then he looks at
the clock and runs to get ready.

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 12.

The following scene can be deleted. It is not absolutely

necessary.

8 INT-EXT. PORTICO OF ANOTHER OFFICE - DAY 8

Abhijit comes out of the office accompanied by three

colleagues. Each has a folder in hand. Chullu Bhar Pani is
written on the folders. They are in an agitated mode
discussing something urgent. However, Abhijit is somewhat
detached.

COLLEAGUE 1
What do we do with Ram now? If he is
going to fight with the Mukhia in the
next episode, then the Dalit card
would be played too soon.

COLLEAGUE 2
The story editor has strictly banned
that option before the panchayat
election.

COLLEAGUE 3
But how to make the show go ahead? Hey
Abhijit, what do you think?

ABHIJIT
(Unmindfully)
Then kill her if you can't give her a
new house.

The three colleagues look at one another in surprise.

COLLEAGUE 2
Kill whom? Are you in your senses?

Abhijit turns back to reality. He is a little embarrassed.

ABHIJIT
Sorry! What were you saying?

Their conversation becomes muffled under the noise of the

city traffic and other peoples' chatter as they move further
away.

DISSOLVE:

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 13.

9 INT. SHYAMBABU'S PRODUCTION OFFICE LOUNGE - NIGHT 9

Abhijit is waiting outside with a cup of coffee in hand. He

is still jotting down points in his tab. A PA comes to him
and asks him to go inside the cabin.

10 INT. SHYAMBABU'S CABIN - NIGHT 10

Shyambabu and Nilanjan meet Abhijit. He is ready to present

the development of the idea thrust to him.

ABHIJIT
The way I have thought about the story
is briefly what I will present.

Abhijit opens his laptop and presents action cards in the

form of a PowerPoint presentation.

ABHIJIT (CONT'D)
During the 1971 liberation movement of
Bangladesh, two siblings - an elder
brother, Iswar Chakraborty and his 10-
year-old sister Sita became separated.

NILANJAN
(Condescendingly)

Call that a got-up war to suck India's

thumb.

ABHIJIT
Her brother promised Sita a new land,
a new home. That is the dream of the
humanity too - a home. Sita meets a
man with that dream too. But the man
is Dalit.

NILANJAN
Wait! That's not the arc I gave you to
develop. From where did you get this
story? And her name is Aditi, not
Sita. What is this nonsense that you
blabber?

ABHIJIT
Sir, your arc looks too melodramatic
to me. I have developed that too. But
don't you think the story of a mother

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 14.

trying to turn her daughter into a

hooker who is in love with the
mother's patron is too gross?

NILANJAN
(Infuriated)
Look, Abhijit! Aditi is a hooker, to
begin with. She is a sex siren. She
enjoys sex, money and power just like
any uncontrolled woman. If you don't
understand the female psyche, leave
this profession or learn it fast.

Abhijit tries to interfere while Shyambabu watches the

exchange.

NILANJAN (CONT'D)
Don't cut in. I thought that you knew
about film noir. Those films have a
female character, a femme fatale, who
leads the situation to destruction. In
this story, Aditi and her daughter
both are like that. A double femme
fatale story.

SHYAMBABU
Abhijit, listen to him. He has handled
so many Bollywood and Hollywood films.

Abhijit keeps staring at both. In his mind, in a flash,

Aditi, the femme fatale, tortures Nilanjan tied in ropes by
suffocating him with a pillow.

NILANJAN
When I was a student at USC, Robert
Redford called me the next Billy
Wilder, Master of sex and suspense -
the master of dark films. Quentin
discussed the story arc and the beats
with me for months while writing Pulp
Fiction. Syd Field consulted me
professionally while writing...

Abhijit keeps staring at him. His friend Atanu's image,

hovers over Nilanjan's face while Nilanjan's voice recedes in
the background.

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 15.

11 EXT. CIGARETTE SHOP OUTSIDE SHYAMBABU'S OFFICE - NIGHT 11

ATANU
That man is a liar. The only son of a
PWD engineer, he went to USC for a
short summer program. But he convinces
people that he is an MFA, a USC
graduate.

Nilanjan's face and voice come back to Abhijit's perception.

NILANJAN
...and Rikta Kaur almost made me the
Chairman of Alt Chachaji. She was
dating me. Why? Because I have the
crux of all stories in me. I am
cinema! I am the culture!

Abhijit sees Nilanjan and Shyambabu as if through a thick

glass full of water. In the distorted vision, Shyambabu is
seen enjoying Nilanjan's bragging indulgently. Atanu's voice
comes back on the top of Nilanjan's speech.

ATANU (V.O.)
Never take any of his words at face
value.

Nilanjan speaks more animatedly as Abhijit stares at him in

hateful wonder.

NILANJAN
And it was always the dignity of the
profession that took me forward. How
else did I give them ten successive
hit shows?

Nilanjan's V.O. continues while the scene changes to

12 INT. ALT CHACHAJI OFFICE - DAY 12

The manager of the company is talking to Nilanjan in the

cabin. It is twilight time.

MANAGER
No. Ma'am can't meet you now. You are
late again.

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 16.

NILANJAN
See, I have told you before production
meetings begin at 6 pm in LA.

MANAGER
This is India.

Nilanjan brings out a thin file from his bag.

NILANJAN
I have it ready.

MANAGER
Mr Nilanjan, this was your last
chance. Do you think anyone here will
call you after the way you handled our
series?

Nilanjan's Close-Up comes back to the present situation at

13 INT. SHYAMBABU'S CABIN - NIGHT 13

Nilanjan is babbling about his glorious achievements.

NILANJAN
Rikta was mad for me. She couldn't
stay a single minute without me on her
side...

Again the scene changes to the office. Rikta's cabin this

time.

14 INT. RIKTA KAUR'S CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY 14

Rikta, her manager and two other close associates are seated
while Nilanjan is standing.

RIKTA
How dared you send this valentine's
dinner invitation to me? And with such
a crappy note!

She picks up a letter with love signs embossed. Nilanjan is

seen to be shrivelling.

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 17.

RIKTA (CONT'D)
I can hand you over to the police. Do
you know that? This is gross sexual
harassment. I have been watching you
for several weeks now. We cross-
checked you. Your recommendation
letters and diplomas are all fake.
Tell me a single reason why we should
let you go free!

Nilanjan falls to her feet.

NILANJAN
Ma'am, please give me a last chance. I
promise you the next show will be a
hit.

RIKTA
(Looking at her associates)
Is this guy dumb?

The scene comes back again to the present situation.

15 INT. SHYAMBABU'S CABIN - NIGHT 15

NILANJAN
And it was always dignity that kept me
ahead of time.

Abhijit clears his throat. Nilanjan and Shyambabu look at

him.

ABHIJIT
So you want me to develop the
ambitious hooker's story. Okay, Sir.
I'll do that.

He packs his laptop and stands up.

NILANJAN
Tomorrow night at the same time. But
let's meet at the bar. Right Shyamda?

Shyambabu nods.

ABHIJIT
Which bar?

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 18.

NILANJAN

Are you from Kolkata? Don't you know The Bar?

Abhijit does not know how to respond.

NILANJAN (CONT'D)
I hope you know Grand Hotel,
Esplanade? It is inside that. And come
in presentable attire. Otherwise, they
will kick you out.

DISSOLVES TO DARKNESS:

16 EXT. EMPTY ROAD. CARS PASSING BY INFREQUENTLY - NIGHT 16

Abhijit is talking on the phone while dragging heavily on the

cigarette. As one cigarette gets over, he picks another out
from the packet and lights it with the stub fire from the
previous.

ABHIJIT
Yes, Mom. I'll be back for Pujo. Now
it's too hectic here.

He pauses and listens to the muffled voice on the other side.

ABHIJIT (CONT'D)
Yeah, I am in touch with Romi. Why do
you blame me? I never said that I
wouldn't get married. But this is not
the time. Wait. Romi is calling. I'll
talk to you later, Mom.

Romi's call is seen waiting. Abhijit disconnects his mother's

call and connects to Romi's.

ABHIJIT
Hello sweetheart.

ROMI
(In an aggressive, angry voice)
Sweetheart, my foot! Where were you
all this time? I have called you
continuously since the evening.

ABHIJIT
I told you that I had a meeting.

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 19.

ROMI
Damn your meeting and your lies. I am
tired of being ignored by you. This is
absolutely insulting.

ABHIJIT
But Romi, listen...

ROMI
You have only cinema, plot, and fake
characters in life. Real people don't
exist for you.

ABHIJIT
That's not true...

ROMI
Do you at all remember that today was
my sister's birthday? You had no time
to call and wish her.

ABHIJIT
Now I can wish her.

ROMI
it is 12:30, Dear. The day is over.
Who wants your wish? You stay with
whoever you are.

She disconnects the call. Abhijit tries to call back twice.

The first time it rings and then disconnects. The second time
her phone comes switched off. Abhijit sighs and starts
walking to his apartment building. Abhijit opens a text
message that arrived during the telephone conversation. It is
from Nilanjan.

It reads: "Don't come to the bar tomorrow. Wait for further

instructions."

Abhijit sighs and starts walking to his apartment building.

CUT TO:

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 20.

17 INT. NILANJAN"S BEDROOM - NIGHT 17

Nilanjan is drinking at home while watching Hentai porn on

the TV. His phone buzzes. It is a text from Shyambabu. He
wants to know the progress of the script.

NILANJAN
Shyamda, don't worry. I have decided
on the genre. Now he is to punch an
Italian lover and The Grapes of wrath
with a dollop of Basic Instinct.

SHYAMBABU
Will we get anyone to play the role of
Sharon Stone in Kolkata?

NILANJAN
Leave that to me.

As Nilanjan disconnects the call, the lights in his bedroom

start flickering uncannily. Nilanjan goes out to the hallway
to check the MCB and finds the place filling up quickly with
smoke. A soft blue light percolates through the smoke.

AN APPARITION in silhouette appears from within the smoke.

HER FIGURE OUTLINE gradually becomes visible as if she is a
sketch on a blue-smoky background.

APPARITION
Recognize me, Ciber? Or should I call
you Cage or any other name?

NILANJAN
(Startled)
Who let you inside? Wait! You look
familiar. You are...

APPARITION
Aditi. Your guardian angel.

Nilanjan touches the burning cigar to his skin and groans.

ADITI
No. You are not dreaming. I came to
warn you for the last time.

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 21.

NILANJAN
(Mumbling in soliloquy)
Why am I having this dream repeatedly?
I need to figure out how many
metaphors are condensed in this
figure.

ADITI
(Laughing aloud)

I am not Your dream Mr Counterfeit. I have been here before

your forefathers could paint a single line on the cave wall.

NILANJAN
I must wake up from this nightmare.

ADITI
Stay away from my child, Salieri.
Else...

The hall becomes pitch dark, and a soft white light fills it
up from above. Nilanjan sees a mirror and the reflection of
his bloodless face and completely white eyes with red
arteries behind the white.

Abhijit shivers and wakes up in his bed while the sound of

porn comes from his TV. He looks at the wall clock. It is
almost 3 am. He gets up, takes a bottle of water from the
fridge, drinks and goes to sleep again after switching the TV
off.

18 INT. A POSH INTELLECTUAL CAFE - NIGHT 18

Abhijit is waiting with a folder and his laptop on the side.

One empty coffee cup and an empty plate are there on the
table. From the side tables,
_ the sound of fake intellectual
conversations is coming.

Two books are on the table, along with the folder and
Abhijit's laptop. Roger Penrose's The Emperor's New Mind and
Jung's Archetype and the Collective Unconscious. Abhijit
orders another cup of coffee.

Nilanjan enters with a cigar hanging from his mouth. He looks

tired.

It is 8:30 pm on the wall clock.

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 22.

ABHIJIT
Sir, I thought that you wouldn't come.

NILANJAN
Have you read it?

He points at the books. Abhijit taps on Penrose, Nilanjan

shakes his head negatively. Then Abhijit touches the book by
Jung, and Nilanjan nods in affirmation.

ABHIJIT
Yeah.

NILANJAN
life is the best book. Enjoy. Why
waste reading trash?

ABHIJIT
But these are people's experiences.
Real people.

NILANJAN
Not yours. Anyway, where are we?

Abhijit shows two bound scripts.

ABHIJIT
I want you to look at the alternative
script I wrote with the same
characters.

Nilanjan stands up in rage

NILANJAN
Who are you to decide what will be
written? We'll work with someone else.

Nilanjan keeps on shivering as he speaks, as if an electric

current passes through his spine intermittently. He stands up
again and tries to light a cigar. But the cigar is not lit
even after a few attempts.

NILANJAN
Women are instinct-driven creatures.
They are sex sirens. They give us
pleasure or grief. I am sorry to say
that you know nothing of psychology.

He points at the Jung book and storms away.

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 23.

Abhijit looks at the retreating figure. Then he opens a

scrapbook inside his folder and jots down something.

19 INT. NILANJAN'S APARTMENT - KITCHEN - NIGHT 19

The clock strikes twelve at a distance. Nilanjan makes exotic

food and prepares a cocktail. He also hums A Bitch Iz a Bitch
rolling the words quite deliciously.

His phone rings. An unregistered number pops up. Nilanjan

picks up the call.

A MUMBLED FEMALE VOICE is heard on the other side.

NILANJAN
Hi Ruby. Yeah. Please don't be late.
Bring the other two girls whom I
booked along with you.

Nilanjan disconnects the call. He goes to the kitchen cabinet

and takes out a bottle of massage oil.

20 EXT. INSIDE THE CAB ON THE ROAD - NIGHT 20

Abhijit is packing his suitcase. One the table the working

title of his screenplay can be seen in the top heading: The
Golden Thread - River and Man. The subheading: Autobiography
of Civilization is visible under the top heading.

The whole room is seen from a vantage point. Most of the

books on computers, algorithms, AI and logic are gone from
the bookshelves. Books of philosophy and biographies have
taken their places.

Abhijit picks up his phone. A message thread from Shyambabu

is seen. He writes, "Take a leave. Leave your scripts at the
office"

Abhijit puts the phone away, picks his script and burns it.

Suddenly the phone rings again. It is an unsaved phone

number. Abhijit picks it up.

ABHIJIT
Hello

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 24.

A FEMALE VOICE
Hello Abhijit. You can't burn
emotions.

ABHIJIT
What? Who is this?

A FEMALE VOICE
Aditi. I want you show something.

ABHIJIT
Now? But I am awake!

A FEMALE VOICE
You are always awake. Come to the
river. Your favourite spot.

ABHIJIT
(Still shocked)
What? You are...

ADITI
Your imagination?

Abhijit does not know what to say.

ADITI
Please come. Now. Before it is too
late again.

ABHIJIT
Where?

ADITI
To the river. Next to the lighthouse.

The phone is disconnected. Abhijit sits still for a second.

Then he gets up and leaves.

21 EXT. RIVERSIDE - NIGHT 21

It is entirely dark except for a few points of light in the

far. A boat stands near the river strand, silhouette in the
mist. As Abhijit is seen approaching in the distance, a woman
in an ancient Egyptian robe appears inside the boat as if
embodied from the fog.

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 25.

Abhijit reaches the boat. The woman extends her hand. Abhijit
takes it, speechless. No sooner does she touch his hand than
his body language changes. His face looks calm, almost in a
trance. Fog and smoke encircle the boat entirely.

ADITI (V.O.)
Welcome back.

White smoke envelops the screen until it fades away to

22 EXT. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER. INSIDE THE BOAT - NIGHT 22

Aditi is rowing the boat. She is wearing a peplos, and her

face looks slightly different from all her past appearances.
Her hair colour, which was black previously, looks auburn
now.

Abhijit is seated still, staring at Aditi.

She stops rowing.

ADITI
We can take shapes. But we require a
willing human mind to interact
physically to another mind.

ABHIJIT
How will I help?

ADITI
Think emotionally. If you believe that
your imaginations are true, then
Nilanjans can stop existing.

ABHIJIT
Such a fool!

ADITI
I tried to remind you of your powers.
Six thousand years ago, when we met
first in the forest when you took the
earrings from Saudasa, you wrote the
first couplets of your life.

ABHIJIT
I remember! So many years I lived in
the desert, after that.

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 26.

ADITI
And so many repetitions.

ABHIJIT
I want to write it again.

ADITI
And you will. Hug me tightly.

They hug

ADITI
We are one again.

ABHIJIT
And men like Nilanjan?

ADITI
They are the deviants. They will
remember through oblivion.

ABHIJIT
How will he learn?

ADITI
Not only him. All of them - all the
sham poets who disfigure, disrobe,
deform us.

ABHIJIT
What shall I do after that?

ADITI
Your intuitions will guide you.

Aditi takes Abhijit's hand and puts a pen, which looks like a
dagger, in his palm. Then she holds his face in her palms
lovingly and caresses his eyes. The screen turns black as she
moves her fingers over his eyelids and closes them slowly.

CUT TO:

23 INT. ABHIJIT'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 23

Abhijit wakes up from a dream with a jerk as if he came out

rolling from a tunnel. He looks at his almost packed
suitcase, perplexed. Then he looks at his right palm. There
is a dagger-shaped pen from which deep blue ink has been
dropped on a piece of paper on the table.

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 27.

CUT TO:

24 EXT. NILANJAN'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 24

Nilanjan is watching the news on the android TV reclining on

his bed. He changes the app to a live sex channel. His greedy
face is seen in the Close-Up. He sips on the cocktail
intermittently. There is a vibrator dildo on the bed beside
him.

NILANJAN
(Whispers in soliloquy)
Aha! Foursome! Long live Shyamda.

Nilanjan looks at his mobile. It is 12:05 am. Nilanjan looks

impatient.

NILANJAN (CONT'D)
Why are they taking so much time?

He dials the last call number, but it does not connect. Then
the doorbell rings.

Nilanjan jumps up from the bed. As he runs to the hallway,

the light goes out, and the space is rapidly filled with fog.
Nilanjan is unable to see the door.

Aditi comes out of the fog, followed by five of his friends.

Nilanjan looks alarmed. As he tries to step back, he finds
the hall and his bedroom occupied by multiple versions of
Aditi and the other archetypal characters.

ADITI
Let's end this child's play. You and
your friends have deformed all of us
for millennia.

Nilanjan tries to wake himself up by pinching and hitting

himself.

NILANJAN
This is not happening. Wake up! Wake
up! Wake up!

ADITI
Go back to oblivion!

OTHERS
Amen!

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 28.

An Om sound permeates the room. Greek, Tamil and Sanskrit

chants fade in.

Just before Nilanjan collapses, a bright blue lightning

dazzles the screen.

DISSOLVE TO:

25 EXT. RIVERSIDE - DAY 25

Preparation for an outdoor shoot is on. A clap boy is seen

moving with a clapboard where Muhurat is written in big
letters above the other details.

Abhijit is busy talking to the Cinematographer and two more

crew members. At a little distance, Shyambabu is having a cup
of coffee with three guests.

SHYAMBABU
It is a miracle that this brave boy
took all the responsibilities on his
shoulder.

He points at Abhijit.

FIRST GUEST
How is Nilanjan now?

SHYAMBABU
Very sad! All senses are gone, but his
body is perfectly alright.

SECOND GUEST
A very peculiar type of brain stroke
indeed!

Abhijit makes a call to the crew and cast to be ready for the
take.

ABHIJIT
Let's have a rehearsal. We are running
out of time.

ADs, ACs and other crew take the position. There is a little
commotion on the ground.

Abhijit sits on the monitor as the Cinematographer and the

focus puller. Then he stands up again.

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 29.

ABHIJIT
Subrata, I'll take the first shot.

The cinematographer reluctantly leaves his position. Abhijit

sits on the dolley and looks through the view-finder.

ABHIJIT
Where is Sita? We are taking the
muhurat shot.

From the makeup tent, a woman comes out. She is dressed in a

simple saree and carrying a clutch purse. She is Aditi. Her
face and body language is a little different from previous
appearances.

Aditi smiles at Abhijit and shows her thumb up. Abhijit

smiles back at her. Shoot begins.

CUT TO:

26 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY 26

Nilanjan is lying in the hospital bed, wrapped in a white

linen cloth. His mouth is open, and his tongue is out. His
eyes are open, but there is no sign of sensation or
intelligence in his eyes. He moves in the bed like a newborn
baby.

Two doctors enter the room with a report in hand.They come to

Nilanjan's bed and start a discussion with passion.

FIRST DOCTOR
A really amazing case. Look at this
fMRI.

He points at one of the papers in his hand.

SECOND DOCTOR
Boss told me before you joined.
There's no sign of cerebral cortex
activity. No cortical folding at all.

FIRST DOCTOR
He is like a two-month-old embryo. Ana
amazing study!

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SECOND DOCTOR
We are lucky to have him here. A
grown-up man who lost all kinds of
sensation and psychomotor activities
without body paralysis. A sure recipe
for Nobel Prize.

FIRST DOCTOR
Let's prepare the T2-weighted MRI.

Two male nurses join the doctor and shift the patient to a
stretcher.

Next to the patient's bed, a small whiteboard has his name

and the names of the tests written. The second doctor starts
wiping it clean.

THE END

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 31.

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