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An open,cubicles- laden hall and in the corner a conference room with smoked glass door of a corporate production house..Four of them were sitting in various postures– slightly reclined ,with various versions of hands- jaw locking, to listen to my narration of a script that I had been pitching for a film project..VP (content) ,henceforth called plain VP, introduced me to his other colleagues : Nisha,Asha Vishwas and Mohan..

Without much further delay I was told to shoot–my spiel :

Me : Thanks for this opportunity..My film is set in mountainous region of upper Shimla/Manali almost six thousand feet above sea level..Where our hero Dushyant is given an assignement to supervise the construction of a dam..He hurriedly accepts it..As he is preparing to leave by road from Delhi, we show a bubbly,chirpy,natkhat,chanchal girl Shakuntla flitting across the boulders of a mountain slope and rolling stones of a rivulet. She is singing a song a la ‘Aaja re pardesi, main toh kab se khadi iss paar, akhiyaan thhak gayi panth nihar..aaja re pardesi..”

We catch our hero Dushyant driving in an open jeep through the panoramic landscape visible from serpentine roads..He is happy and full of expectations and his hair is flying in the breeze and lips are whistling something like ‘ Yeh shaam mastani madhosh kiye ja, mujhe dor koi kheenche teri aur liye jaa.’

As Dushyant nears the hamlet, we now see Shakuntla carrying a pitcher full of water and ramp walking through the meandering village-track singing on the lines of ‘Chalo ri, chalo ri, kisi pyase pardesi kay aaney se pehle panghat se ghar ko chalo ri’..

At this point I see Asha and Nisha exchange glances and a faint hint of a smirk on latter’s face..Asha looks at VP who nods and I get encouragement and a signal to go on..

So I shift gears: Now Shakuntala is on the outskirts of her village when Gugrola interrupts her march..Shakuntla as per her fickle nature flirts with him.. With leer on his face Gugrola inches forward.. Shakuntla’s gaiety turns grim..She backtracks..

Nisha : Now wait a minute, who is this Gugrola and what kind of a name is this?

Me : Gugrola means Gulshan –Grover- look- alike and he is….

Nisha: You need not tell about his character..Name speaks all..Carry on.

Me : Thanks..As I was mentioning Gugrola tries to molest Shakuntala..It’s almost twilight..And in this magic hour she screams ..Bachao, bachao..Her voice echoes through the valley..No one hears her distress call..And Gugrola rips open her choli and is about to lay bare the facts, the sound of screeching tyres is heard..And enters our Dushyant..He just does not enquire what is the truth..Simply beats Gugrola to the pulp..And fiction becomes a fact from here onwards..Its a lost cause as Shakuntala loses her heart to this Pardesi babu..

We show Shakuntla dancing and prancing across the hill tops and slopes with a lilt in her voice “ Pardesi aaya des mein, des se mere gaon mein, gaon se mere ghar me, ghar se mere dil mein..’ On this we cutaway to Dushyant going about his job on the dam site unaware of what is round the corner…And as he turns a corner in his jeep after office hours he finds Shakuntla dot in middle of the patchy road…Their eyes meet, lightning strikes in the distant and clouds rumble..

We pick the jeep driving up a steep climb..Shakuntla is in the jeep showing Pardesi babu all the ruins and cornerside temples and so-called heritage of the land..Dushyant is fascinated with her knowledge of her surroundings—which road goes where, how waterfalls become alive after rains,the sheep and the black sheep, and who is the roguest of rogues amongst village boys..Dushyant stops the jeep and asks her :Tum ye sab kaise jaanti ho ?

Shakuntla : (giving a shake to her head with her choti flying across) :Babu ji mujhe sab maaloom hai..
And then Shakuntala realizes that she may have spilled more than desired and looks away coyly..This floors Dushyant completely..He is smitten but checks his libido..And suddenly it starts raining..Dushyant starts the jeep..But it wont revv up..It’s a crisis situation..Shakuntala then tells about a daak-bungalow where they can take shelter..

In the daak-bungalow noone is there..No sign of a chowkidaar or even a dog..But inside there are wet matchsticks and wet logs..As Shakuntala changes into Dushyant’s shirt in a far corner, Dushyant does the impossible..Ignites the wet logs with wet matchsticks! And refrains of ‘Roop tera mastana, pyar mera diwana, bhool koi hamse na ho jaaye’ gradually waft in..As the song takes over, both Dushyant and Shakuntala are taken over by their consuming passion that matches the rising flames..

It’s next morning and Shakuntala is questioned by her father Nahula about her whereabouts last night..When he comes to know about the one-night-stand his daughter has indulged in, he is shocked and enraged..He wants to meet the guy immediately..

Both go to the dam site and are handed a note..It says ‘Shaku, mujhe fauran ghar jaana padh raha hai..Meri maa ka dehaant ho gaya’(I have to leave for home immediately..My mother has expired)..

At such a turning point Vishwas butts in with incredulous expression : Why should you resort to such a cop-out ? I mean, why mother should die ?

For a moment I was on the backfoot..Then I blurted : At such an immoral act committed by Dushyant who else will die..?not his maasi or chachi (not his aunt)!

VP : Point taken, what happens next ? Seeing his boss’s stance Vishwas has to suspend his disbelief..And I pick up my narrative thread.

Now from here onwards the story takes twists and turns and hairpin bends as if symbolising the roads to mountainous homes and hearts..Shakuntala waits for Dushyant to come back..As her tummy starts growing so does her fears..And the labour of love is about to be delivered and no sign of her lover..And then the news comes that Dushyant is dead ! Shakuntala cannot take this shock and goes into labour pains..Her screams mingle with cries of a newly born..

I saw VP perking up..Story seemed to have got to him somewhere..Nisha smirks once again..Asha has glint in her eyes..For the first time Mohan speaks up..

Mohan : If you kill Dushyant what is the motive?

Me : Exactly! He is not what he seems.

Mohan : Then who is he?

Me : He is a whistle-blower..

As I uttered these words Nisha whistles..Others look at her..She goes back into her smirking cocoon.. I have this gut feeling that things are on the right track..

VP(with a bounce in his voice): Then what happens ?

Days pass into months..and months into years (shown visually with dam construction and completion in full swing)..Shakuntala brings up her son Gudu..In the process we show Shakuntla’s father Nahula marrying her off , from amongst all the eligible guys in the village, to Gugrola before going to la la land..!

Mohan : Now why would he do that ?

Me : Because in his opinion Gugrola was the only bad guy who could protect Shakuntla from other baddies and bring some good..

Vishwas : I am not convinced at this reasoning.

Before I can answer him Nisha asks : What does Nahula mean ?..And she answers herself : Does it stand for Nazir-Hussain-look-alike?

As I nod her smirk turns into a faint smile and she nods to VP..Now this is another positive sign coming from such a negative source.

Vishwas : You still have not answered my query..To me it all seems a mumbo-jumbo..

Me : Infact this is one of the most different stories ever being told..Something new is happening every fifth scene..What we call in Punjabi..It has something nava.!

Asha : You mean to say noir?

Me : No, Nava as in New!..You see as the story progresses we have Dushyant coming back from the dead.

Vishwas: What ?

Me : Yes..He never died..In fact it was his look-alike and it was all planned!

Asha(excited) : Now this is noir and nothing else..

Me : Excuse me, I would still prefer to call it nava..This noir is so confusing..whether it’s a genre or a style..the debate rages..and moreover it’s so goddamned difficult to pronounce for my Punjabi sensibilities..

Vishwas (to Asha) : I still not get it Asha..How is it noir?

Asha : It has all the elements in place deception,betrayal, intrigue,the barren mountain landscape..the characters that are not what they are.
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Mohan (butting in) : How can you endorse the characters ? To me they all look like cutouts.

Me : If I tell you that there is lot of sub-text and layers..

Mohan : Show it.If you can’t show it then at least prove it.

Me : Let me finish..See Shakuntala’s kid is actually Gugrola’s..And she was always in love with him but not his deeds..She wanted to reform him by making him jealous..Dushyant was just a tool and a ‘foreign’ attraction—a kind of Pardesi Babu syndrome..Grass being greener on the other side !.. Gugrola could not take it and plotted Dushyant’s murder..

When Dushyant went missing from the radar,on delivery of a baby Shakuntala did quick calculations and informed her father Nahula that the baby was indeed Gugrola’s..And Nahula always wanted this..So he approached Gugrola with the proposal..Gugrola had some doubts but that were scotched by Shakuntala that she named the baby with his initial two letters ‘Gu’ in Gudu..On this the gung-ho Gugrola accepts the proposal..And when Dushyant comes back and sees Gudu he is reminded of his own childhood photograph..He confronts Shakuntala..She has no problem convincing him that the boy is infact his..For proof, she tells him that the boy even carries first two alphabets of his name ‘Du’ in his name Gudu!

At this Asha perks up and gives a thumbs up sign to VP : This Shakuntala is a b****…very noirish!

My eyes light up..

Vishwas unlike his name was again skeptical : But where is the detective in the story ?

I was emboldened by now and immediately retorted : Who do you think Dushyant is?..He is the detective impersonating as an engineer who has come to investigate his own murder!

Nisha : Own murder?

Me : Yes,sixty years ago he was murdered and now in his reincarnation he is goaded by forces of sub-conscious and ‘marketing’ to go and lob this story on the hapless,trusting audience.

At this VP jumps from his seat and bangs on the table..Wow! this is a clincher..noir with reincarnation !..Boss we are doing the project.

Me : Thanks, but i request you, please don’t categorise it as noir..This gives me nightmares and I am very jittery of debates and discussions and defending myself..To me it is nava and let it be like that only.

VP: Ok, Ok, as you wish.. By the way what title have you thought of this reincarnation of noir!

Me : SHAKUNTALA : 6000 FEET ABOVE
(with a tagline)—A 60 Year Old Untold Love Story

VP : Wonderful ! Let’s sign the MOU..

And I heave a sigh of relief ! It’s time to sign…off.