Pari D9.3

PARI
DRAFT - 9.3
WRITERS
ABHISHEK BANNERJEE
PROSIT ROY
DIALOGUE WRITER
ANVITA DUTT
DIRECTOR
PROSIT ROY
DATE: 9 JUNE, 2017
A CLEAN SLATE PRODUCTION

1 EXT. FOREST / LAKE - NIGHT
A dark, stormy night. There is a constant eerie sound of

raindrops falling on leaves. A few rays of torchlight are
moving inside the forest.
SUPER - SATKHIRA, BANGLADESH, 1995
Men with scared faces, searching for someone desperately. One

of them tries to light up a bunch of incense sticks with
trembling hands.
A sudden gust of wind comes from nowhere and puts off the
fire. A few foxes howl close by. The man, frightened, looks
at his mate next to him, muttering Arabic verses closing his
eyes.
A little away from there, a tall, middle-aged man with beard

and a bandaged left eye is carefully checking a dead fish on
the shores of a lake. The intense look on his face is giving
a sense of his power. Everyone calls him PROFESSOR. A young
man named FARIS arrives behind him.
FARIS
Professor sahab... nahin mili...
Professor does not respond and continues to check on the

fish.
FARIS (CONT’D)
(hesitant)
Itne andhere main kuch dikhai bhi
nahi de raha hai thik sey... kal
subah aa kar dekhein...
Professor turns and gives him a withering look.
PROFESSOR
Darr lag raha hai Faris?
Faris squirms.
PROFESSOR (CONT’D)
Darro... Darrne ka waqt aa gaya
hai...
Professor turns around and shows him the lake. Camera cranes
up. A sudden lightning in the sky reveals all the fishes in
that lake are dead and floating on top.
Few huts can be seen on the other side of the lake.
2 INT. HUT - CONTINUOUS
A wounded, heavily pregnant woman, screams out in severe

pain, lying on a small bed inside a dimly lit hut.
2
PARVEEN (40s) is sitting next to her and stroking her

forehead while JAMILA, her old mother in law is getting ready
for the delivery.
An excited cat stands near the doorstep, afraid to enter the

room fearing the unknown.
JAMILA
(annoyed, to the cat)
Yeh bhi paagal ho rahi hai...
(to Parveen)
Aur tu bhi... aaj raat hi mili thi
ise ghar laane ko... mard bhi saare
samandar pe gaye hain...
PARVEEN
Kya karti... iss haalat mein padhi
thi jangal mein... koi jaanwar khaa
jaata subah tak...
JAMILA
Aur yehaan mar gayi toh...?
PARVEEN
Madad karenge to nahin marregi...
saans chal rahi hai abhi...
JAMILA
(while walking)
Jaaney kisska paap le ke bhaag rahi
thi...
Suddenly the bulb starts flickering. The fire on the stove

where the water is heating, burns up.
The cat gets furious looking at something and runs towards

it. A female laughter in a husky voice is heard.
PARVEEN
kaun hai?
JAMILA
kahaan?
PARVEEN
kuch nahin... paani la de...
As Jamila turns, she sees three women wearing black Burkhas

with dark faces, standing near the doorstep and watching
them.
A sudden lightning reveal one of those women’s rotten face

for a second.
She screams in fear.
PARVEEN (CONT’D)
kya hua?
3
JAMILA
(pointing at the door)
voh... udhar...
But now, there is no one.
JAMILA (CONT’D)
(trembling)
Kala Pori... Kala Pori
PARVEEN
Kaun?
JAMILA
Kala Pori aayi hain... kisska
baccha hai yeh... Ya Allah...
Suddenly the pregnant woman screams and sits up hearing

Allah’s name.
3 EXT. FOREST - CONTINUOUS
Professor and his men are walking towards the huts. Suddenly
they hear the scream. Within seconds they start running.
4 INT. HUT - CONTINUOUS
The woman continues to scream while writhing in pain.
PARVEEN
Bachcha aa raha hai... kapda de...
JAMILA
(panics, goes to a corner)
Tu duur hatt wahaan se... allah ka
naam le... allah madad
The pregnant woman continues to scream loudly while pushing

the baby out.
A lightning strikes close by. The baby is born. She is quiet.

Parveen takes the baby in her arms.
JAMILA (CONT’D)
kya hua?
PARVEEN
Marri paida huyi hai...Nafi ki
dori... naabhi... kuch nahin hai...
The dead baby is not connected to her mother with any

umbilical cord and does not have a navel.
With trembling hands Parveen gives the baby to the mother.

4
Suddenly they hear a sound of heavy breathing. The fear in

the mother’s eyes grows as the sound starts moving closer to
the hut.
Jameela gets a bad odor.
PARVEEN (CONT’D)
(sniffs)
Yeh badbu....?
Someone throws the half eaten body of the cat inside the
room.
The bulb flickers heavily, till it bursts, sinking the room

into darkness. Both women start screaming in fear.
Moments later, few men enter the room. Professor comes ahead
and flashes the torchlight on the frightened faces of Jamila
and Parveen.
From the faces the ray of light moves across the room to the
bed. It’s empty now.
5 EXT. FOREST / RIVER - EARLY MORNING
It’s raining heavily. Rubina is running through the woods

holding the dead baby tightly in her arms.
She stops, the river water is flowing over her submerged

feet. Suddenly, the baby cries out loudly. She condemns
herself and walks ahead to throw the baby into the flowing
water.
But fails. She holds the crying baby on her chest and starts
howling looking towards the sky.
6 EXT. THE BANYAN TREE - EARLY MORNING
The sound of her cry dissolves with the howling of a few

street dogs standing in front of a huge banyan tree in the
middle of a foggy open land. The Title fades with the sound
of thunder.
PARI
7 EXT. PIYALI’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
A red Wagon-r car is parked outside a rain-soaked two storied

middle class house on the banks of Hooghly river.
SUPER FADES IN: WEST BENGAL, INDIA, 2017
Laughter of family members can be heard coming from the

living room on the ground floor.
5
Camera leaves them and travels up to the windy terrace where

Arnab is seen standing alone.
Suddenly he hears something and turns around. It’s a parrot

on a hanging stand.
8 EXT. PIYALI’S HOUSE. TERRACE - DAY
Arnab takes a step towards it and the bird screams out

loudly.
PARROT
Get Out... Get Out!
PIYALI, 28 arrives from behind holding two cups of tea.
PIYALI
Sorry... issey ek hi word aata hai.
Arnab smiles and takes one cup. Both of them walk towards the
ledge.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Akeley rehtey ho Kolkata mein?
Arnab nods.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Bore nahin hotey?
ARNAB
Nahi... Not really...
PIYALI
(surprised)
To phir shaadi kyun karna chahte
ho?
An awkward silence.
ARNAB
Actually mera shaadi karney ka koi
plan nahi tha... You know
parents...
PIYALI
(making a sad face)
Trust me I know....
Arnab smiles.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
To... kuch batao apney baarey
mein...
He shrugs
6
ARNAB
Kya?
PIYALI
Tumhara Kabhi koi affair ya
kuch...?
He looks startled and shakes his head to say no.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Kabhi nahin? Sach bol saktey ho. I
don’t mind...
ARNAB
Nahin... actually... kabhi kuch hua
nahin...
Arnab smiles. Piyali skeptically looks at him for a moment.
PIYALI
Tumhe Kuch poochna hai?...
ARNAB
(after thinking for a bit)
Nursing padh rahi ho na?
PIYALI
(smiles a little, amused)
Padhai to kabki khatm hogayi...
abhi internship chal rahi hai...
Accha... Mujhsey pehley kitni
ladkiyaan dekhi tum logon ne?
ARNAB
(pause)
Aap teesri ho ... aur aapney?
PIYALI
Tum pehley ho... pehli do ko naa
kyun kiya?
ARNAB
Mainey kahan naa kiya...
PIYALI
Toh?... unhoney reject kiya?
Arnab nods his head to say yes. Again an awkward silence.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
(controls her smile)
Aur kuch puchna hai?
ARNAB
(with hesitation)
Aapka koyi boyfriend...?
7
PIYALI
Haan... there was this doctor...
break up ho gaya
(change in tone)
Mujhey shayad uss se zyada usski
bike achhi lagti thi... cool lagta
tha... tum bike chalaatey ho?
ARNAB
Ek aadh baar try kiya... par
nervous ho jaata tha.
PIYALI
Really? Are you the nervous type?
Toh ek yoga try kar sakte ho... it
calms you..
ARNAB
Yoga?
PIYALI
Haan nursing mein sikhaate hain...
patients ke liye, operation
wagairah ke pehle... Naak pe aisey
haath rakho aur saans lo... ab
doosri side se...
Although Arnab hesitates, he continues to breath as

instructed by Piyali.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Kuch feel hua?
Arnab says yes like an obedient boy. A smile appears on

Piyali’s face seeing Arnab’s reaction. Music fades in.
9 I/E. ARNAB'S FATHER’S CAR / HIGHWAY - DAY
The red car is speeding on the Highway. The music from the
previous scene is playing on the radio.
Inside the car, Arnab is much relaxed now. Raindrops start

falling on the windshield.
ARNAB'S FATHER
Lo phir shuru ho gayi
(to Arnab)
Ladki achhi lagi ki nahin?
ARNAB
Haan... theek thi...
Arnab's father switches off the radio. Arnab protests.
ARNAB’S FATHER
Theek thi ka matlab kya hota hai...
achhi lagi ke nahin...
8
ARNAB
Lagi...
ARNAB’S MOTHER
Babai... to baat aagey badhayein?
ARNAB
Pehley dekho... voh kya kehtey
hain...
ARNAB’S MOTHER
Arrey tu uss sab ke baarey mein
kyun soch raha hai... mujhey lagta
hai yeh log haan bol deingey...
ARNAB
Aapko kaisey pata? Jo bhi hai...
yeh last try tha...
ARNAB’S FATHER
Ab tu overreact kar raha hai...
apni maa ko puch... satraanh
rejections ke baad mili mujhey...
(touching his forehead)
Sab yahan... Yahan likha hota
hai...
Suddenly, out of nowhere someone comes right in front of the

car. Arnab's Father fails to press the break.
A distressed scream. A sudden jolts. The car skids and stops

at a distance.
Arnab sees his father trembling in fear, holding the steering

wheel. He turns back and through the windshield sees a mould
of black cloth lying in a pool of blood on the road.
Before Arnab's Mother can stop him, Arnab gets out of the car
and runs towards the body.
A burkha-clad woman is lying with face down on the road. A

strange sound of moaning can be heard.
With trembling hands Arnab turns her face. The woman’s head
has got a fracture, blood starts coming out from her open
wound.
Arnab's Mother who was standing behind starts puking.
ARNAB
(shouts)
Maa, tum gaadi mein baitho...
Arnab looks around to find some help but there’s no one. He

picks up the woman and runs towards the car.
He tries to open the rear door. His mother opens it to help.

9
Arnab puts the body inside the car. His father enters from
the opposite side to help.
ARNAB'S FATHER
Kya kar raha hai?
ARNAB
(while putting the body
in)
Zinda hai... hospital le jayeingey
to...
ARNAB'S FATHER
(nervously)
police ke chakker mein phass gaye
to?
Arnab gives a firm look to his father who runs around the
front of the car and sits on the driver’s seat.
ARNAB
(to Mother)
Baba ke saath aagey baitho...
Arnab sits at the back, holding the old woman’s head, putting
pressure on her wound to stop the flow of blood. His Mother
starts weeping holding her mouth. His Father fails to start
the car twice.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Car main chalaata hoon... peechey
aa jao...
ARNAB'S FATHER
(looking at the body)
nahin! Tu baitha reh... main...
main manage kar loonga..
ARNAB
Baba listen to me...
Before Arnab could finish, Arnab's Father starts the car. The
car runs through the deserted road.
Arnab notices the woman opens her mouth.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Maa, paani ki botal do...
Arnab's Mother passes the bottle. Arnab opens it and pours

water in her mouth when he hears a soft mumble.
The woman is looking directly at him while trying to say

something. Arnab bends to bring his ears closer to her face.
10
OLD WOMAN
(in muffled voice)
Gal... Galti... Galti ki sazaa usko
mat dey...
She repeats the words a few times before going silent.
ARNAB'S FATHER
Hospital bas aagey hi hai...
ARNAB
Koyi fayda nahin...
The car stops. Arnab's Father turns and first looks at the
still body of the old woman, then at Arnab.
10 INT. LOCAL HOSPITAL. LONG CORRIDOR - DAY
Arnab's Father, visibly nervous, is sitting with a Police

Officer and giving his statement while Arnab stands next to
him.
POLICE OFFICER
Phir?
ARNAB'S FATHER
Hum Barrackpore se waapas aa rahey
they... tez baarish bhi thi... ek
dum se yeh gaadi ke saamney kood
padhi...
POLICE OFFICER
kood padhi? Matlab? Suicide?
Father looks at Arnab and hesitantly nods to say yes.
POLICE OFFICER (CONT’D)

(while writing)
Accident spot yaad hai kahaan hai?
He stops writing and looks at Arnab and Arnab’s father. Arnab

gives an unsure look to his father then nods to say yes.
11 EXT. ACCIDENT SPOT - AFTERNOON
The police has closed this part of the road. Blood spats,
marks of screeching tyres, broken glass particles are
scattered on the road.
Arnab is leaning against a police jeep. A sense of uneasiness

is seen on his face.
A couple of constables, standing a little far, are whispering

amongst themselves and repeatedly looking at Arnab.
11
A few villagers are watching the police do their work. The

Officer walks towards them.
POLICE OFFICER
Kuch ghantey pehley yahaan ek
budhiya ka accident hua tha...
burkha pehney huey thi... kissi ne
kuch dekha? Koyi jaanta hai kaun
thi?
Everyone is clueless about the accident. An old villager

comes ahead.
OLD VILLAGER
Bahut mussalman rehtey hain aas
paas... burkhey mein kaun hota hai
kaisey pata chalega sahab?
Arnab notices something and walks by the the side of the road
and pulls out a walking stick made out of Babla wood from the
side of the road. The stick has cut marks all over it and
small pieces of coloured cloth are tied on the top.
The villagers recognize it and start murmuring among

themselves.
OLD VILLAGER (CONT’D)

Yeh to uss kutteywali ka hai...
POLICE OFFICER
Kiska?
OLD VILLAGER
Sahab... naam nahin pata... sab
ussey kutteywali boltey hain...
POLICE OFFICER
Rehti kahaan hai?
OLD VILLAGER
Saamney ki gully lo... to ek
taalaab aayega...
12 EXT. VILLAGE ROADS. POND / BAMBOO GROVE / RUKHSANA’S HOUSE -

CONTINUOUS
Arnab with the police officer and a few constables are

walking along the side of the pond, their reflections fall on
the dark pond water.
OLD VILLAGER (V.O.)

Talaab ke baad jungle hai...
They enter a bamboo grove.

12
OLD VILLAGER (V.O.)

Aur bas usskey baad ek chhota sa
ghar...
Through the bamboo grove a small rickety hut can be seen

standing in the middle of nowhere.
OLD VILLAGER (V.O.)

Ajeeb si thi budhiya... Paagal
si... raat ko sadkon pe ghoomti
rehti thi... akeley baith ke zor
zor sey roti thi... sadak ke kutton
ko apney ghar le jaati thi...
tabhie sab ussey kutteywali kehtey
they...
The police officer arrives in front of the hut. Suddenly a

pack of 15 stray dogs, start barking together breaking the
silence. Arnab gets scared.
The dogs come running towards the police who try to drive
them away with their batons.
POLICE OFFICER (V.O.)

akeley rehti thi?
The officer signals his constables. They walk towards the

entrance.
OLD VILLAGER (V.O.)

Kehtey hain Ek beti hai usski...
kissi ne dekha nahin hai ussey
theek se... budhiya ussey ghar se
nikalney nahin deti thi... maarti
rehti thi... cheekhney chillaaney
ki awaaz aati thi...
Arnab enters the dark, dilapidated hut. Police have already

started investigating the interiors. There is a small dirty
quilt on the floor with a greasy pillow. A few unwashed
utensils are kept on one side. The officer notices, a
lantern, matchbox, a few small handmade mud dolls and a big
nut-cracker with few pieces of nails on a small wooden shelf
next to the window.
The officer keeps the nutcracker and notices a cowshed behind

the house, through the window.
POLICE OFFICER
(calls out)
koyi hai?
They walk out from the rear exit and stand outside the
cowshed.
CONSTABLE
Koyi nahin hai sir...
13
Suddenly the officer hears the sound of metal chains from

inside. They enter the cowshed. Arnab follows them.
As they enter the dark cowshed, a slight movement of the

chains is heard again. Arnab follows the sound and notices a
silhouette figure of a woman hiding behind the haystack and
looking at them.
The constable switches on the torch, the figure hides behind

the haystack.
The officer slowly follows the chain and goes behind the
haystack. Arnab follows him and finds RUKHSANA, a frail,
vulnerable 22 year old woman wearing Salwar Kameez with open
curly hair. She tries to hide herself. The long chain is tied
to her ankle.
The officer bends down. Arnab, surprised, standing behind the

officer, continues to watch her.
POLICE OFFICER
(politely)
Dekho darro matt...
RUKHSANA
(quivering voice)
Ammi... Ammmii
POLICE OFFICER
Hum police se hain... madad karney
aaye hain...
Rukhsana turns to look at him, she has big light eyes. The
officer tries to remove the chains from her ankle.
RUKHSANA
Nahin nahin... ammi kholegi...
POLICE OFFICER
(pauses)
Tumhari ammi ka accident ho gaya...
Rukhsana stares blankly. Music fades in.
EXT. VILLAGE ROADS. POND - TWILIGHT
Rukhsana is walking along the pond with the officers. She is

struggling to walk, as if she is wearing some kind of
invisible shackle. The group of dogs are following her but
Rukhsana does not look back. A constable tries to drive those
dogs away. Arnab is walking behind everyone.
13 INT. LOCAL HOSPITAL. ROOM- EVENING
A little away, on the stretcher lies the body of the dead

woman wrapped in white cloth.
14
Rukhsana is standing next to the stretcher and gently

stroking her mother’s hand and singing a lullaby in a feeble
voice.
Arnab comes and stands behind her.
ARNAB
(low voice)
Sorry..
Rukhsana stops singing as if she woke up from a trance. She

turns and looks at Arnab with a blank face.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Ek dum se gaadi ke saamney aa
gayi...
(pause)
Hospital le ja rahey they... par
raastey mein hi....
Rukhsana does not speak and goes back to stroking her

mother’s hand.
All of a sudden, a morgue worker enters the room making a

loud noise at the door and extends few papers towards her.
MORGUE WORKER
Yeh... idhar... sign kar...
Rukhsana looks blankly at him. The morgue worker gets annoyed

and walks out of the room.
ARNAB
Ghar pe koyi aur...koyi rishtedaar?
Rukhsana moves her head to say no. The worker comes back with
a stamp pad. Rukhsana gives her thumb impression on the
papers - sort of confused and fascinated by the process.
The morgue worker gives her a printed paper.
MORGUE WORKER
Body kal Katapukur se le lena...
discharge ka teen sau rupay abhi
dena hai
Again Rukhsana looks blankly towards him. Arnab takes out

money and pays him. He walks out with the stretcher.
RUKHSANA
Ammi ke saath kya karega voh?
Arnab pauses for a bit to think what to answer.
ARNAB
Zyada kuch nahin... chaan been
karni hoti hai... kaisey jaogi...
murdaghar?
15
Rukhsana continues to look at the stretcher.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Katapukur kahaan hai... pata hai?
Kaisey jaogi wahaan?
Rukhsana looks blankly at Arnab now.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(pauses)
Main le jaun?
She doesn’t answer.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(firmly)
Main le jaunga...
Rukhsana again looks blankly at Arnab.
14 INT. LOCAL HOSPITAL. ROOM - NIGHT
Arnab is standing with his mother while Arnab's Father is

sitting with the Lawyer and signing documents.
ARNAB'S MOTHER
Tujhe jaaney ki kya zaroorat hai?
ARNAB
Bechari ka koyi nahin hai... kissi
ko to jaana chahiye na saath...
ARNAB’S MOTHER
Haan to humey uss se kya? tu kyun
ghus raha hai beech mein? bina
matlab ke...
ARNAB
Bina matlab ke?
(agitated, low voice)
Main aagey baitha tha... mujhey
pataa hai suicide nahin tha...
Arnab does not finish seeing his father coming with the
lawyer.
ARNAB'S MOTHER
kya hua?
LAWYER
Police station jaana padhega...
koyi problem nahin hai... gaonwalon
ne jo bhi bola... uss se police ko
lagta hai suicide hi hoga... paagal
thi... kood gayi gaadi ke
saamney...
16
ARNAB'S MOTHER
voh ladki... voh to koyi problem
nahin khadi karegi?
LAWYER
Nahin... usko to koyi samajh hi
nahin hai... apni ma aur apna pehla
naam chhorr ke usko kuch nahin
pataa... baap kaun hai yeh bhi
nahin pataa... Voh kya problem
karegi...
While his parents and the lawyer are talking amongst

themselves, Arnab’s eyes fall on Rukhsana who is looking
blankly at the police officer animatedly trying to make her
understand something.
15 INT. KATAPUKUR MORGUE - DAY
Two morgue workers are removing the white sheets and marking
bodies for autopsy. PRAHLAAD,40 opens the body of an old man
and pulls out a gold tooth in one go and keeps it in his
pocket.
KANAI,44 opens a woman’s body and tears out a chain from her
neck, looks at it carefully and gets a look of disgust.
KANAI
Kya zamaana aa gaya hai... saala
loot maar ke chakkar main koyi asli
sona hi nahin pehenta aaj kal...
Prahlad laughs. Kanai throws away the chain and marks the
body on a small piece of paper attached to its feet.
Kanai again removes a white sheet and Rukhsana’s mother’s

body with swollen face is revealed. With a stoic face, he
starts checking her body for some valuables.
Suddenly he notices something. Gradually an impression of

fear appears on his face.
PRAHLAAD
Kya hua? Kuch mila?
Kanai comes out of the trance hearing Prahlaad’s voice and

rushes to the exit.
PRAHLAAD (CONT’D)
Kahaan ja raha hai? Doctor aa
jayega...
Kanai rushes out without paying any heed. Prahlaad gets back
to his work in the background, while in the foreground we see
a round tattoo on Rukhsana’s mother’s hand. The sound of a
ringing phone overlaps the soundtrack.
17
16 INT. TRAVEL AGENT’S OFFICE, TRIPURA / KATAPUKUR MORGUE.

WORKERS ROOM - CONTINUOUS
A tacky, small travel agent’s office. FARIS, now middle-aged

with a beard and skullcap picks up the call.
SUPER FADES IN: TRIPURA, INDO-BANGLADESH BORDER.
FARIS
Haaalllooo
KANAI
(panics)
Sahab... ek laash hai... accident
mein mari thi... mussalmaan hai...
FARIS
To kya janaazey pe aaun?
KANAI
usskey haath pe nishaan hai
sahab...
Faris goes pale.
KANAI (CONT’D)
Oladhchakra ka...
Camera closes in Faris’s face.
17 INT. PROFESSOR’S HOUSE. DINING ROOM - DAY
A middle class house. SUPER FADES IN: DHAKA, BANGLADESH.
Professor, now almost 65 years is wearing thick glass

spectacles with unkempt hair and beard. He is sitting on a
chair and feeding lunch to his 4 year old grandson who is
seated on the table.
A 24 year old boy (student) is sitting next to Professor. A

few papers, fat books and copies are scattered over the
dining table in front of them.
Professor is reading from one of the big fat copies with his
thick glasses while feeding his grandkid.
Once a page is read by Professor, the student flips it and

they move to the next page. Professor is concentrating on the
thesis and feeding his grandchild alongside.
PROFESSOR
Nahi... nahi... yahan Hadith ke
reference ki koi zaroorat nahi...
ek kaam karo... Hussain Saheb ke
contemporary Islam ke upar jo
papers hai unme check karo... kuch
aur interesting angle milega...
18
Professor feeds his grandson and gets back to reading.
STUDENT
(hesitantly)
Bangladesh Tribune main ek khabar
nikli hai sir... aapney dekhi?
PROFESSOR
Paper waper padhne ka waqt kahaan
milta hai...tumne Hussain Saheb
wala point note kiya?
STUDENT
Ji ... kar liya...
(after a pause)
Saatkhira ke paas
(looking at the kid)
Kuchh bacchon key sarr mile hai...
PROFESSOR
(casually while reading)
Woh to pehle bhi mile they... allah
jaane yeh Liberation War ki aur
kitni laashein nikleingi...
STUDENT
Haan par ... unke hisaab say yeh
Liberation War ki nahin... Qayamat
Andolan ki hain...
Professor looks at the student for a bit and then signals him
to flip the page. The student flips the page. Professor again
concentrates on the thesis.
STUDENT (CONT’D)
(hesitantly)
Sir ... ek baat puchun?
PROFESSOR
(while reading)
Hmmm...
STUDENT
Aapne kabhi jinn ko dekha hai?
PROFESSOR
(while reading)
Nahi...
GRANDSON
Jinn kya hota hai Daadu?
PROFESSOR
(smiles)
Jinn... Jinn hotey hain burey
khayaal...yeh jo tum kehte ho ke
school nahi jaunga...padhne nahi
baithunga...khana nahi khaunga...
(MORE)
19
PROFESSOR (CONT'D)
(looking at Student)
Kaam ke time disturb karunga...yehi
tumhaare andar ka jinn hai, jisse
shaytan bhi kahte hai...bohut hi
khatarnak hote hai yeh...
STUDENT
Ifrit sey bhi khatarnak?
Professor looks a little disturbed. And then - the phone

rings. He frowns looking at ‘Faris India’ flashing on the
display.
He leaves everything and rushes out of there to the balcony

to answer the call.
The Student watches the Professor, pensively talking on the

phone while his grandson is spitting out the rice one by one
on the table.
Moments later, Professor cuts the call and comes back. The
grandkid stops spitting immediately.
PROFESSOR
(to the Student)
Mujhey kissi kaam se jaana hai...
STUDENT
Ok sir... toh phir main wapas kab
aun...
Before he could finish, Professor rushes out of there.
18 INT. PROFESSOR’S HOUSE. PROFESSOR’S BEDROOM / CHAMBER -

CONTINUOUS
Professor enters his bedroom. The walls have various cryptic

images in unknown languages.
The shelves are full of various books on contemporary

religion and spiritualism.
Professor takes out a suitcase and starts packing few

clothes.
He pulls out an old rusted trunk from below the bed. He opens
the trunk and takes out a scourge and a pack full of incense
sticks.
He stares at the incense sticks for a moment and packs it

along with his clothes.
Professor takes out a small bottle of eye drops, puts it in

his right eye and leaves the room in a rush. Camera leaves
him and slowly comes near his study table.
20
A copy of the Bangladesh Tribune is lying on the table. The

headline reads “17 BABY HEADS ARE DISCOVERED FROM A
CONSTRUCTION SITE”, and below that a b/w picture of glass
jars containing baby heads lying on a dug up ground
surrounded with cops (in mask) and local labour.
19 I/E. KOLKATA ROADS. SHYAMBAZAR SQUARE / TAXI - DAY
The sound merges with the chaotic sounds of a busy Kolkata

road. Visibly scared Rukhsana is looking out of the window at
the tall buildings and billboards.
The sounds of car engines, honking, the hawkers calling out -

”saat taka... matro saat takae sutir maal” and the shouts of
a bus conductor “Hatibagan, Khanna, Ultodanga” comes together
and hits Rukhsana’s ears... harder than usual.
Suddenly a tram takes a sharp turn and comes near the taxi.
Rukhsana closes her eyes and ducks down.
The tram brushes past the taxi. The passing of the tram
reveals Netaji’s iconic statue in the middle of the square.
Arnab, sitting in the front seat notices Rukhsana’s reaction

through the rear view mirror and turns around.
ARNAB
Kya hua?
Rukhsana gets up and surprisingly looks at the statue. Arnab

notices it.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Pehchana?
Rukhsana moves her head to say no.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(surprised)
Netaji ko nahin jaanti?
RUKHSANA
Kaun hai? Neta...ji...
ARNAB
Azaad hind.... Rehney do... bahut
kuch samjhaana padhega...
The traffic lights turn green. The taxi starts moving.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(to the driver)
Aagey se left lo... Iss time pe
main road pe bahut traffic hoga...
baayein lo... phir seedha seedha...
21
The taxi goes through various narrow lanes and bylanes of

North Kolkata while Arnab explains direction to the driver.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(to rukhsana)
Left pe dekhte raho... mera ghar
aagey hi hai...
Suddenly the Taxi stops to give way to another car.

Rukhsana’s eyes fall on a monkey which is sitting on the road
with a baby monkey on her lap. Her legs are shackled and she
is looking straight at Rukhsana.
Rukhsana goes into some kind of a trance. The honking of the

cars sounds obscure, so is the voice of Arnab.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Voh brown building dikh rahi hai?
Wahin rehta hoon... jis balcony pe
safed shirt sookh rahi hai na?
wahaan...
Suddenly Arnab realizes she is looking somewhere else. He

taps on her shoulder which brings her back from the trance.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
kahaan dekh rahi ho? Voh side
nahin... iss side pe...
Rukhsana turns to look but the taxi has already crossed it.
She looks at Arnab with guilt-ridden eyes.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(smiles)
Rehney do peechey nikal gaya...
The sound of a distressed cry of a female voice fades in.
20 I/E. KATAPUKUR MORGUE - DAY
There is a sense of melancholia outside the morgue.

Distressed families and friends waiting to receive the bodies
of their dear ones.
Rukhsana and Arnab are also waiting in the crowd. Next to

them a pregnant woman is crying her heart out. Rukhsana is
repeatedly looking at that woman’s baby bump.
In the middle of all this, Kanai is looking at them from the

crack of a door. After which he breathes in and out, opens
that door to walk out.
He steals a glance at Rukhsana and then calls out for ‘Rubina

Khatun’ in a complete opposite direction.
Arnab comes ahead. Kanai hands a few paper for signing. Arnab
bends down to sign.
22
KANAI
(looking at Rukhsana)
Beti hai uski?
ARNAB
(while checking papers)
Hmm...!
KANAI
Aur koyi beti hai? Ya bas...
Arnab gets up and blocks Kanai’s view.
ARNAB
(irritated)
Kyun? aapko iss se matlab?
KANAI
(controls)
Nahin... aisey hi poocha...
(to two women)
Aye... shuru karo...
Two Muslim women, while murmuring a prayer, start wrapping

the body in five cloths.
MUSLIM WOMEN
Bismillaah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem
Al hamdu lillaahi rabbil ‘alameen
Suddenly Arnab hears a strange rattling sound. He turns to

find Rukhsana is clenching her teeth.
MUSLIM WOMEN (CONT’D)

Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Maaliki yaumid
Deen
When Arnab gestures to check, Rukhsana controls herself with

all her might and moves her head to say that it’s nothing.

Iyyaaka na’abudu wa iyyaaka
nasta’een
Ihdinas siraatal mustaqeem
The sound stops for a moment to start again. Arnab notices

Rukhsana is scratching her hands with her nails. Her toe
nails are shriveled. The nerves on her neck start swelling.
As if she is becoming restless due to an acute pain.

Siraatal ladheena an ‘amta’ alaihim
Arnab keeps a hand on her shoulder; Rukhsana is startled and

looks back. Her eyes are red.
23

Ghairil maghduubi’ alaihim
waladaaleen
At that point, the Muslim women stop their prayer.
MUSLIM WOMAN
Aameen
ARNAB
Theek ho?
Rukhsana nods to say yes. Suddenly one of the women lights up

a bunch of incense sticks.
Rukhsana screams in fear, goes behind a pillar, holds her

nose and sits in a corner. Arnab follows her.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Kya hua?
RUKHSANA
Kyun jalaa rahi hai voh?
ARNAB
kya?
RUKHSANA
Voh lakdi... badbu wali...
ARNAB
Aggarbatti? Voh to khushbu hai...
RUKHSANA
Nahin nahin.... Nahin... rok
ussey... nahin nahin.... rok...
rok...
Arnab can’t understand her behavior. He shouts and asks those

women to put off those sticks.
ARNAB
Suniye... bas... ho gaya... ab band
kariye....
From a little far away, Kanai watches Rukhsana with a scared

face.
21 I/E. HIGHWAY / TAXI - NIGHT
Rukhsana is looking outside, resting her head on the window

glass. The light rays from the headlights of the passing cars
fall on her face. Arnab is now sitting next to her.
ARNAB
Theek ho?
24
Rukhsana does not answer.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Ek baat poochhun?
She looks at him questioningly.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Aapki ammi... aapko baandh kar kyun
rakhti thi?
RUKHSANA
(takes some time)
Ammi darrti thi...
ARNAB
Darti thi? kyun?
Rukhsana does not talk.
It starts raining outside. The driver stops the car near the
accident spot. Rukhsana is about to get out of the car and
Arnab stops her.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Akeley kaisey... main aata hoon...
RUKHSANA
Nahin... main chali jaungi...
ARNAB
(while pulling an umbrella
from his bag)
Ruko....
He gets out of the car and opens the door from the other side
for Rukhsana.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
chalo...
Rukhsana walks out of the car and both of them start walking
under the same umbrella.
22 EXT. VILLAGE ROADS. POND / WASTELAND - CONTINUOUS
Rukhsana and Arnab are quietly walking under the same

umbrella through the dark village roads. An eerie silence
prevails around except for the rain drops falling on the
leaves. Suddenly Arnab stops and suspiciously looks around.
ARNAB
yeh badbu kaisi hai?
RUKHSANA
Kuch... kuch nahin hai... tu ja...
main yahaan se chali jaungi...
25
ARNAB
Sure? Matlab... pakka... chali
jaogi?
Rukhsana nods to say yes.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Suno... dekho main... aap...
(pulls out some money from
his wallet)
Yeh rakh lo...
Rukhsana looks at the money and moves her head to say no.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Rakh lo....
Rukhsana again moves her head to say no. Arnab does not force
her.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Theek hai... main jaun?
Rukhsana nods. Arnab turns around and feels a little scared

looking at the dark wasteland.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
voh... talaab kiss taraf tha??
Cut To. Rukhsana and Arnab are quietly walking back by the
side of the pond. Arnab sees the headlight of the taxi on the
main road.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
ab chalaa jaunga....
Rukhsana wants to give back his umbrella.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Nahin... aap rakho... bye...
Before she could say anything, Arnab runs towards the taxi.
Rukhsana can hear Arnab closing the door, the engine starts
and the taxi leaves. Again the surroundings get flooded with
the eerie silence.
Rukhsana starts walking back to her house. Suddenly she hears

a footstep. Fearfully she looks around.
The water drops from the umbrella start falling on to her

face. She wipes out the water with her palm but moments later
they come back on her cheek. Again she wipes them off. But
this time she realizes those are not raindrops, but tears
rolling down from her eyes. A sense of fear appears on her
face.
26
Suddenly she hears a lullaby in female voice. Rukhsana turns

and sees a Kalapori sitting on the ground under a bamboo
grove, tying a red cloth on her mother’s walking stick while
singing the lullaby.
Kalapori stops singing hearing Rukhsana’s footsteps.
KALAPORI
(without looking at
Rukhsana)
Rukku aa... idhar aa...
RUKHSANA
Kaun hai tu?
Kalapori turns - it’s young Rubina.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Ammi...
RUBINA
(With tears in her eyes)
Rukhsaana... meri bachchi...
Rukhsana starts walking towards her. Suddenly she stops

walking, hearing the sound of heavy breathing and footsteps
approaching towards her.
Rukhsana gets terrified and looks back at Rubina who smiles

and her rotten teeth, black gums and black tongue gets
visible.
KALAPORI
(whispers)
Voh aa raha hai kuchh maangney...
dena to padega...
All of a sudden she distorts her face and starts crying

making an eerie sound. The same sound emits from the trees
around.
Scared Rukhsana immediately starts running. The footsteps

start chasing her.
23 I/E. RUKHSANA’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Rukhsana comes in front of her hut, feels an acute pain in

her stomach and falls down. She forces herself to get up and
starts running. But again, she falls down.
Rukhsana somehow gets herself inside the cowshed, falls on

the ground and starts writhing in pain. Drops of blood come
out of her nose.
Her dogs become really scared looking at her. Rukhsana

extends her hands and calls them towards her. Suddenly a
thunder strikes close by.
27
24 EXT. WASTELAND - CONTINUOUS
Arnab’s umbrella lying in the forest while distressed howling

of a dog can be heard in the background. A loud irritating
sound of a big machine overlaps the soundtrack.
25 INT. ARNAB’S OFFICE. FACTORY / PIYALI’S HOSPITAL - DAY
A huge printing machine is making a constant loud noise.

Newspapers are getting printed in rows. Arnab is standing in
front of it and checking the machine with a worker. Suddenly
his phone rings; Arnab answers the call.
ARNAB
(shouts)
Helloo..
PIYALI
Busy ho?
Piyali in her nurse attire is standing at a corner window,

while the hustle bustle of a busy hospital continues behind.
ARNAB
Oh aap...haan... bolo...
PIYALI
Woh ek good news deni thi...
finally tumhara pattern break ho
gaya... teesri waali ne haan kar
di...
ARNAB
Oh Ok... I mean thanks...
PIYALI
(smiles)
Waise Maa call karne wali thi...
phir socha main hi pehle bata
doon...Actually kuch aur bhi batana
tha... mil saktey hain aaj? Meri
shift 4 baaje khatam ho rahi hai...
26 EXT. KOLKATA MAIDAN - AFTERNOON / EVENING
Piyali and Arnab are sitting on a bench under a tree and

eating Jhalmuri from small paper bags.
Tall buildings and Victoria Memorial can be seen beyond the

lush green Maidan. Few 2nd Div. football players are
practicing at a distance.
There is another couple who is sitting slightly away from

them. They have a 2 year old kid who is wearing shoes that
make whistling sounds. He is playing with a big plastic ball
with his mother.
28
The kid is coming back with the ball and giving it to his
mother who is then throwing it off for him to get it. The
sound of his shoes can be heard in the background.
PIYALI
Pahle... yahaan har saal aati
thi... book fair ke liye... kitna
accha hota tha... pata nahi kyun
shift kar diya...
ARNAB
Aap kuch kehne waali thi?
PIYALI
Haan... woh uss din mainey jhooth
bola tha... tum pehley nahin
they... tumsey pehley chaar ladkey
dekhey the.. chaaro ne reject kar
diya...
ARNAB
Oh...
PIYALI
Sorry...
ARNAB
Nahin... jhooth to mainey bhi bola
tha... aapsey pehley do nahin teen
ladkiyaan dekhi thi...
PIYALI
(chuckles)
Phir to yeh wala jhooth cancel ho
gaya...
(deep breath)
Par doosra jhooth...
Arnab looks at Piyali.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Haan... voh jis ladkey ke baarey
mein bataya tha...
ARNAB
Bike wala... doctor...
The sound of the kid’s shoes slowly turns into a heartbeat.

And along with that we see various handheld close-up shots.
A male hand takes an injection syringe and puts it on to

someone.
PIYALI (V.O.)
Haan... vohi... bike wala doctor...
voh kuch din ka nahin tha...
29
The images slowly start becoming out of focus. The doctor

takes off his wrist watch and engagement ring.
PIYALI (V.O.)
matlab... serious tha... chaar saal
chalaa... aur...
He puts his surgical gloves on, relaxes his fingers.
The images become even more blur, the hands takes some gel.
Camera pans towards the wall to reveal a poster saying “ Life
is precious and we care for it”.
Suddenly Piyali comes out of the trance with the kid’s

chuckle who is standing in front of her.
The kid offers the ball to Piyali. Piyali smiles, takes the
ball and then throws it.
Again, the kid runs to get the ball and the sound from his
shoes can be heard. Piyali turns towards Arnab.
ARNAB
Aur?
PIYALI
Aur ek din khatm ho gaya...
An awkward silence.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
(concern)
Ab yeh sab sunke shaadi ke liye
manaa to nahi karne waale ho?
Mainey already ghar pe...
ARNAB
No.. No...
Piyali smiles. Suddenly it starts raining. Arnab looks for

the umbrella in his bag but its not there. Piyali takes out
the umbrella from her bag and holds it over them.
27 INT. RUKHSANA’S HOUSE / POND - AFTERNOON / EVENING
Raindrops are falling on the leaves.
Slowly the doors open and Rukhsana walks out with an old iron
bucket. The dogs lying on the ground outside the house,
whimper looking away instead of looking at her.
She fills up the bucket with water from the pond.
On her way back, Rukhsana stops for a moment and looks around
carefully. Then she heads back slowly.
30
Far away from Rukhsana, Professor is standing behind the

trees with his team.
Kanai looks at Professor who gestures him to stay quiet.

Professor turns and looks at his watch.
29 INT. RUKHSANA’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Rukhsana puts the bucket on the floor, sits while kneeling

down in front of it and blankly stares outside the window.
Professor is looking at his watch. From 3.59PM the clock

strikes 4PM.
31 INT. RUKHSANA’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Rukhsana is still sitting in the same way staring outside the

window. The prayers begins at a faraway Masjid. Rukhsana
submerges her head inside the bucket.
Professor and his team repeat the prayers under their breath
on hearing the prayer.
Professor opens a pack of incense sticks and lights them. His

men pick up crowbars, swords, dagger and Ropes. All of them
walk towards Rukhsana’s house.
33 EXT. VILLAGE ROADS. POND - CONTINUOUS
As soon as they cross the pond, Rukhsana’s pet dogs attack

them. The men try to shoo them away, even throw stones at
them. But the dogs continue to bark loudly. Professor’s men
take out batons and attack the dogs.
34 I/E. RUKHSANA’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Rukhsana hears faint sound of her dogs’ crying from inside

the bucket. She opens her eyes.
The prayer ends at the mosque. Professor’s men rush inside

the hut.
They find only a bucket of water lying on the floor; Rukhsana

is nowhere to be seen.
31
Others run outside following the water droplets on the floor

but Professor stands there and takes out the eye-drops from
his pocket. He puts the drops in his right eye.
He slowly walks closer to the bucket and looks inside. Very

carefully, he picks up a long strand of hair from the water.
The dogs continue to bark outside.
35 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM / BALCONY - NIGHT
A dark bedroom. Arnab is trying to sleep but finding it hard

since DABRU, the watchdog, is constantly barking downstairs.
Arnab gets up from the bed and walks to the balcony.
36 EXT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT BUILDING / STREET - LATE NIGHT
The rain has just stopped. The reflection of the building is

falling on a puddle of water.
The logged water reflects Arnab’s arrival on the 4th floor

balcony.
37 I/E. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Dabru continues to bark. Arnab lights up a cigarette, takes a

deep drag and stands quietly for a moment.
Suddenly he notices a shadowy figure running inside the

building. He leans but cannot see much due to darkness.
38 INT. STAIRCASE / LOBBY - CONTINUOUS
Arnab opens his apartment’s door and comes out. He hears the
sound of someone walking up. He leans out of the staircase
railing to check.
Behind him, in the streak of light coming from inside the

apartment, a shadow moves.
Arnab notices an open window slats, which is beating against

the wind to make the sound. He walks a few steps up and
closes the window properly.
39 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM / BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Arnab enters the apartment, closes the door. On his way to

the bedroom he notices a few wet foot-marks on the floor.
Nervous - Arnab picks up a flower vase and follows the marks,

which lead him to the dark bedroom
32
Inside the bedroom, he hears a rattling sound. He follows the

sound and slowly looks under the bed.
To his shock, Arnab discovers a pale faced, terrified

Rukhsana, lying under his bed. The sound is coming from the
chattering of her teeth.
ARNAB
Aap? Aap yahaan?
RUKHSANA
(trembling)
Voh maar dega mujhey... maar
dega... bachaa le... bachaa le
mujhe...
We close in on Arnab’s face.
CUT TO:
Arnab enters with a hot glass of milk.
Rukhsana is sitting with a towel, murmuring the same words.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Maar dega...
ARNAB
Koyi kuch nahin karega... yeh
peeyo...
She doesn’t want to drink.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(authoritative)
peeyo!
Rukhsana takes the glass looking at him.
She then tries to drink the hot milk and gets a slight burn
on her lips.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Garam hai... Phoonk maar ke
peeyo...
Rukhsana starts blowing the hot milk looking at Arnab.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Ab bolo... kaun maarna chahta hai
aapko?
Within moments, Rukhsana gets agitated hearing this.
RUKHSANA
Voh... voh aadmi... badbu wali
lakdi laaya tha... voh maar dega...
33
ARNAB
Kaun admi? jaanti ho ussey?
RUKHSANA
choti thi to dekha tha...
ARNAB
Kahaan?
RUKHSANA
Pahaad pe... ammi aur main pahaad
pe rehtey they... voh aaya tha...
Rukhsana’s eyes widen with fear.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Ammi ne rassi kholi aur bola
bhaag... bhaag rukku... voh humarey
peechey tha... bahut bhaagi... thak
gayi phir bhi bhaagi... phir bach
gaye...
ARNAB
Par kyun? Kyun maarna chahta hai
voh?
RUKHSANA
Pata nahin... ammi ne bataya
nahin... par voh bahut darrti thi
uss se...
ARNAB
Naam jaanti ho uss admi ka?
Rukhsana moves her head in negative.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(pause)
Yahaan kaisey pahunchi?
Rukhsana gives him a blank look. Arnab to his disbelief

notices her feet. They are badly wounded.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Chal ke...
Rukhsana draws back her feet.
RUKHSANA
(soft)
Bhaag ke...
Arnab gets a tube of Boroline, and tries to put it on her

wounds. But Rukhsana recoils herself. Seeing that Arnab
offers her the tube.
ARNAB
Dawayi hai...
34
Slowly Rukhsana takes it from his hand. Arnab guides her.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Haan abhi usko ghumao.... arrey
aisey nahi... ulta ghumao
Rukhsana tries to follow Arnab’s instruction.
40 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - LATER
Arnab is sleeping on the sofa. It’s raining outside. Suddenly

with the flash of lightning, we see Rukhsana standing next to
the door and staring at Arnab who’s still asleep.
Camera pans to the window which turns from night to day.
40A INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM / KITCHEN - MORNING
Arnab wakes up on the sofa. He turns to look at Rukhsana who

is sleeping on the bed.
Arnab walks to the kitchen and puts up water for his tea to
boil.
He turns to take the sugar container and gets a sudden shock

seeing Rukhsana is standing right behind him.
ARNAB
(controlling himself)
Oh... kab uthi?
Rukhsana does not speak.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Chai piyogi?
She nods.
41 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
Rukhsana is blowing her hot tea. Arnab looks at that, smiles

while lighting a cigarette. Rukhsana keeps on looking at that
cigarette but the moment Arnab looks at her, she looks down.
ARNAB
Ab? Police ke paas jaana hai?
RUKHSANA
(scared)
Nahin! Voh police ko jaanta hai...
ARNAB
kaisey pataa?
35
RUKHSANA
Police ko pataa hai mera ghar
kahaan hai... Police ne hi bataya
hoga ussko...
ARNAB
(smiles)
Arrey... Mujhey bhi to pata hai
aapka ghar kahaan hai... To kya
mainey bataya usko?
Rukhsana moves her head in denial.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Kaisey pata?
RUKHSANA
Bas pata hai.
ARNAB
abhi kahaan jaogi? Koyi to hoga
aapka... yahaan nahin to kahin
aur...
Rukhsana does not answer.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Achha theek hai... aap yahaan
raho... main dekhta hoon kya kar
sakta hoon...
Arnab looks at his watch.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Office ke liye late ho raha hoon...
ek kaam karta hoon.. Apka khana
table pe rakh deta hoon...time pe
khaa lena... aur darwaza baahar se
band kar ke jaun?
Rukshana nods her head to say yes. Arnab is about to leave

when she stops him.
RUKHSANA
Nakhoon kaisey katoongi?
Arnab can not understand how to react.
42 INT. PROFESSOR’S HOUSE. BATHROOM / QAYAMAT ANDOLAN HALL -

DAY / NIGHT
A dimly lit bathroom. Professor is standing in front of the

mirror with a small pouch.
36
He takes out a small bottle of chemical, a pack of earbuds, a

tube of ointment and his eye-drop.
CUT TO:
A pregnant woman is lying tied in a bathtub in the middle of

a big underground chamber. She is groaning in pain.
A man comes ahead in light from the darkness with a bunch of

incense sticks. We see his face, Professor in his early 40s.
He moves the sticks in circle between her legs, the woman
starts howling in pain.
3 badly wounded men are seen chained to one of the walls,

groaning. One of them is already dead.
CUT TO:
Back in the bathroom. Professor takes off his glasses and

looks at himself in the mirror.
For the first time we see his left eye. There are small burnt
marks around his eye.
CUT TO:
Faris and another man takes unconscious woman on a wheel-

barrow to another room. A thin trail of blood runs down her
legs. A baby is crying faraway. The delivery is done.
In the same room, 10 women at various stages of pregnancy,

are sitting scared at one corner. They get even more scared
looking at the unconscious woman. Faris looks around
searching for the next target; his eyes fall on young Rubina.
She starts trembling.
CUT TO:
Professor brings his face closer to the mirror. Then

gradually he pulls out something from his left eye and puts
it inside a beaker full of chemical.
It’s his eyeball which starts floating inside the beaker.

Professor’s left eye is a fake one.
CUT TO:
A long corridor. Several bunches of incense sticks are

plugged in. Faris is almost dragging Rubina through the
corridor.
From the opposite side (through the smoke) approaches another

man wearing blood stained apron and gloves, carrying a glass
jar. He enters the room where a newborn baby is crying.
While crossing Rubina looks inside the room.

37
Inside the room, a baby girl is lying on a table. However,

upper half of her body is covered by a man (in the same
attire), standing back to the camera. From the opposite side
of the table a man comes ahead with a running electric saw.
Slowly the saw comes down towards the table.
Rubina looks away in terror.
CUT TO:
Professor takes out an earbud and puts the ointment on the

cotton. With a stoic face, he starts cleaning the dark hole
inside his eye.
Moments later he puts down the bud. There is a bit of blood

on the cotton. Professor picks up another bud. Puts ointment
and again starts cleaning his eye.
CUT TO:
Faris takes Rubina inside that big room.
The captive men start weeping except their leader, who is

staring at Professor with deep anger in his eyes. However,
Professor gives a smile looking at them while cleaning his
glasses.
He looks at his glasses and realizes that they have become

blood stained. He gives it to Faris.
PROFESSOR
Dho ke le ana...
Faris leaves with the glasses. Professor holds Rubina’s hands

politely brings her towards the bathtub.
Slowly, he puts her in the bathtub. A bunch of burning

incense sticks are lying next to it.
(while tying her legs)
Darro mat ... kuch der ke liye sah
lo... phir sab theek ho jayega....
Professor finishes tying the legs and looks up to find that

Rubina is holding the bunch of incense sticks. Within seconds
Professor tries to snatch it away from her but before he
could succeed, Rubina puts it inside his left eye.
Professor gets shocked and takes a couple of steps back when

the men tied to the wall holds his legs and pull him back
towards them. Professor falls between them.
On one side Rubina tries to free her legs, on the other side
Professor tries hard to free himself from those 2 men. He
tries to get hold of a knife stuck near his waist. The leader
holds his mouth so that he can’t shout.
38
With one eye, Professor watches Rubina freeing herself and

getting out of the bathtub. At that moment Professor gets
hold of his knife.
He puts the knife in one man’s chest and runs it through the
leader’s throat. Then he holds his left eye with one hand and
runs towards the dark corridor from where Rubina had escaped.
(shouts)
Faris... Faris...
Faris and the others come running.
FARIS
Kya hua Professor ... woh ladki
kahan gayi...
Professor does not answer. He holds his eye and sits in a

corner. Suddenly they hear someone is laughing. They turn to
see the leader laughing.
43 EXT. PROFESSOR’S KOLKATA HOUSE. POND - AFTERNOON
Present day. Professor opens the back door and walks out.
Faris and Kanai stand up seeing Professor, who gestures them
to sit.
PROFESSOR
Kab aaye?
FARIS
Subah ki flight sey... aap andar
they isliye bulaya nahin
Professor nods and sits.
PROFESSOR
Aalam Sahab se baat huyi?
FARIS
Haan... keh rahey hain kuch aur din
lageingey... dikh to jaati hain...
par bas mein karna thoda mushkil
hai...
Professor gets irritated. An old servant enters with tea and

starts making 2 cups of tea for them.
PROFESSOR
(after a pause)
Faris... ek baat batao... kuch
galat to nahi kar rahey hain?
FARIS
Kaisi baat kar rahey hain...
39
PROFESSOR
Pata nahin... yeh ladki teesri baar
bachh gayi hai...
FARIS
Andolan shuru karne ke pehle aap
hee ne kahaa thha Professor,
qayamat ko rokna, Ifrit ko rokna
aasaan kaam nahi...
Professor looks at him.
The servant starts murmuring a Dua under his breath hearing

Ifrit’s name, keeps the tea cups in front of them and leaves.
Kanai looks at the old servant leave, gathers courage to

speak.
KANAI
(sheepishly)
Woh kaisa dikhta hai Sahib?
Faris looks at Professor hearing this.
PROFESSOR
(after a pause)
Ifrit dikhte nahin Kanai, bas unkey
ird gird rahti kalapori dikhti
hai... Aur ek badbu... sunayi deti
hai toh bas unki saans ki awaaz.
We close in at Professor’s thoughtful face.
44 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - AFTERNOON
Rukhsana is cutting her nails sitting on the bed. Few cut

nails are lying under her feet. Suddenly she hears a sound of
a deep breath.
Rukhsana stops for a moment and looks around. There’s no one.

Again she gets back to cutting her nails.
Suddenly a shadow moves behind her in the corridor.
Rukhsana gets up and walks towards the bedroom door to peep

out. There’s no one in the corridor. However there is
something moving frantically in the living room and it’s
shadow is falling on the corridor wall, right outside the
living room door.
Scared Rukhsana, cautiously walks towards the living room.
Slowly she enters the living room.
A window is open. The flying curtains are creating the

shadows. She closes the window and gives a sigh of relief.
40
However at that moment, a loud sound of cutting nails is

heard and it is now coming from the bedroom. Rukhsana gets
really scared now.
With trembling feet, she walks towards the bedroom.
She enters the bedroom and gets a shock to see another

Rukhsana, drenched in blood with long open hair, is sitting
in the same position and clipping her nails. Her nails are
longer and every time she clips one nail, it makes a strong
cracking sound.
She slowly turns towards Rukhsana and gives a sinister laugh.
Rukhsana trembles in fear and runs to the bathroom.
She closes the door and starts filling the bucket with water.
Suddenly she feels heavy breathing behind her. She looks
back, there is no one, except the towel in the hanger is
moving a bit.
She keeps on looking at the moving towel. Right then,

Kalapori’s lips come close to her ear.
KALAPORI
(whispers in Arabic)
aintashar alddam ... aintasharat
fasilat alddam
Rukhsana screams in fear and immerses her head into the

water.
Inside the quiet bathroom, Rukhsana sits alone with a

submerged head inside the bucket while the tap continues to
run.
45 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Arnab enters the apartment with a couple of plastic packets

and switches on the light. It’s empty.
ARNAB
Rukhsana ....
No one answers him. He walks through the corridor and

switches on the light.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Rukhsana?
The food is lying untouched in the kitchen. He comes in front

of the Bathroom and hears the sound of the running tap.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(knocks)
Rukhsana... andar ho?
41
Moments of silence before he switches on the light of the

bathroom. That is when he hears the sound of water splash and
something coming out of the bucket.
Rukhsana with a white face and wet hair opens the door.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Kya hua aapko?
Rukhsana moves her head to say nothing.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Khaana kyun nahin khaaya?
RUKHSANA
Bhookh... nahin thi
ARNAB
Kya matlab? Saara din kuch nahin
khaaya bhookh kaisey nahin thi...
chalo... saath main khatey hain!
Before going to the kitchen he stops and gives her the other
plastic packet.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Yeh lo... Aapkey liye...
Rukhsana takes the packet from his hand with a disbelief in

her eyes.
46 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. KITCHEN / BEDROOM - DAY
Rukhsana is standing in front of the mirror and drying her

hair when her eyes fall on the plastic bag.
She opens the bag to find 3 sets of salwar kameez & 1 saree.
Rukhsana leans to look at Arnab who is heating up the food in

the microwave. She closes the door of the bedroom.
47 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Arnab is laying the food in the living room when he turns to

see Rukhsana, walking out wearing a new Salwar Kameez with
her hair neatly tied in a bun. Arnab notices Rukhsana’s
beauty for the first time but doesn’t say anything.
Both of them sit on the Sofa. An English TV series is playing

on TV. Rukhsana becomes almost mesmerized seeing the
television. Arnab observes that.
ARNAB
Badal doon? Bangla channel dekhogi?
She moves her head to say no.

42
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(making fun)
Yeh dekhna hai? Samajh bhi aayega?
RUKHSANA
dekhney de na...
Arnab looks at Rukhsana for a moment.
ARNAB
TV dekha hai pehley kabhie??
Again Rukhsana moves her head to say no. Arnab gives the food
plate to Rukhsana.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Ek jagah dhoondi hai aapkey
liye...suna hai achchi hai...
aapkey umar ki ladkiya bhi rahti
hai wahan...
Suddenly Rukhsana’s expression changes. She doesn’t take the

plate.
RUKHSANA
Nahin jaungi...
ARNAB
Kyun?! Bahut achhi jagah hai...
(smiles)
TV bhi hai!
Rukhsana moves her head to say no looking at Arnab.
RUKHSANA
nahin jaungi... nahin... voh wahaan
aa gaya to
ARNAB
koyi nahin aayega wahaan...
Rukhsana gets up while repeating her words. She runs to the

bedroom. Arnab also keeps the plate and goes behind her.
But as soon as he enters the bedroom there is no one inside.

He kneels down to check below the bed. Rukhsana is lying
sheepishly and repeating the same words.
RUKHSANA
nahin...
ARNAB
Rukhsana samajhney ki koshish
karo... yahaan kaisey rakh sakta
hoon? gharwalon ko pataa chal gaya
toh...
43
RUKHSANA
(pleads)
nahin pata chalega... chup
rahungi... choohey ke jaisey...
ammi ne sikhaaya mujhey... idhar
rakh le... yahaan mujhey kuch nahin
hoga...
Her teeth start chattering.
ARNAB
Achha theek hai... dekhte hain.
abhi baahar aao... khaana kha lo...
Rukhsana is really scared. Arnab tries a few more time.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Rukhsana... please... aa jao...
RUKHSANA
Nahin aaungi...
This really annoys Arnab.
He gives up and goes back to the living room and starts

eating.
While eating he turns around to see her. But Rukhsana doesn’t

come out.
48 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM / KITCHEN - LATE NIGHT
Arnab wakes up on the sofa hearing a strange sound. It’s

coming from the kitchen. He gets up and tiptoes to the
kitchen.
Slowly, he enters the dark kitchen and gets stunned seeing

Rukhsana squatting on the floor (back to Arnab) while tearing
and eating something. He switches on the light in a whisk.
ARNAB
Kya kar rahi ho?
Rukhsana sheepishly turns towards him while holding a rotten

bread. She was eating the leftovers from the dustbin.
RUKHSANA
Bhookh lagi hai....
ARNAB
Paagal ho? Kachrey mein se kyun kha
rahi ho? Fridge mein khaana hai
na...
Rukhsana sheepishly looks at him.

44
49 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - LATER
Arnab is putting steam rice on a plate from a big bowl.

Rukhsana is quietly sitting next to the plate.
ARNAB
Aur chahiye?
Rukhsana moves her head to yes. Arnab puts some more rice on
the plate.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
bas?
Rukhsana again nods her head to say yes.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Aur chahiye to bolo...
Instantly, Rukhsana moves her head to say yes. Arnab feels a

little surprised. He puts all the rice from the bowl. A large
quantity of rice accumulates on Rukhsana’s plate.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
itna hi tha... kaafi hoga?
Rukhsana again nods her head to say yes.
CUT TO:
With a lot of chomping & slurping, Rukhsana is on the verge

of finishing her food.
Arnab is observing her eating while sitting a little away. He

lights up a cigarette.
Rukhsana steals a glance at him.
RUKHSANA
Ganda hai! Ammi bahut khaasti thi..
ARNAB
Kya?
RUKHSANA
(pointing at the
cigarette)
Voh...
ARNAB
Pata hai... taqleef deta hai?
Rukhsana moves her head to say no.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Thank God... aapka kya bharosa...
aggarbatti ki khushboo ko badbu
kehti ho...
45
RUKHSANA
darr lagta hai
ARNAB
Really?? Agarbatti sey... hmmm...
chalo yeh karo...
Rukhsana looks blankly at Arnab.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(authoritative)
Issey darr bhaag jaata hai... abhi
naak ki ek taraf haath rakho... ab
saans lo... ab doosri taraf...
lammbiii saans...
Rukhsana starts to learn the same yoga which Arnab had

learned from Piyali. PBS 2 (Music) fades in.
50 I/E. PBS 2 MONTAGE - VARIOUS
DAY. Rukhsana and Arnab are sitting in a running Taxi. Today,

she is not bothered about looking out of the window. A tram
passes by the taxi. Rukhsana does not even notice.
The taxi is standing outside a Rehabilitation Centre. Arnab

pays the fare and looks at Rukhsana who is still sitting
inside. Slowly she opens the door and walks out.
The building is quite dingy and dirty. Rukhsana looks around -

Strange faces. Nervous - she holds Arnab’s hand with both her
hands. Arnab notices it and looks at her. She looks scared.
They are walking through a long corridor. It’s difficult to
walk since the pathway is filled with hanging wet clothes,
sarees and buckets on the floor.
The rooms are small, in rows on one side of the corridor. 5

to 6 girls are sharing each room. They are peeping outside,
looking at Rukhsana. Gradually smiles appear on their faces.
As soon as Rukhsana & Arnab cross the corridor, they reach an

open space, where a few women are washing big utensils next
to a tube-well. A middle-aged woman is holding a young woman
by her hair and screaming.
MIDDLE AGED WOMAN

Haraami meyechele... tin bochor
rendi giri kore akhon shoti saajte
esecho...
Everybody else is really enjoying this fight. Scared Rukhsana

tightens up her grip and hides behind Arnab. (The music turns
into a song)
Rukhsana and Arnab are traveling back in a yellow taxi.

There is a sense of despair on Arnab’s face. Rukhsana is
having a cotton candy in a happy mood.
46
The taxi comes and stops at a signal. A young hawker comes

near the cab and releases few bubbles from his bubble-maker.
Rukhsana looks at the bubbles with surprise.
NIGHT. Rukhsana is releasing a few bubbles from the bubble-

maker and then runs around trying to eat them. Arnab sitting
in the living room, looks at her. In the middle of all the
despair, a smile appears on his face.
NIGHT. Arnab is brushing his teeth, standing in front of the

mirror. Rukhsana quietly arrives besides him and starts
brushing her teeth.
MORNING. Table, Cupboard, Bags - Arnab is looking for

something all over the room. He opens a drawer and finds some
old Bengali Indrajal Comic Books. Inside those books, on some
unused papers somebody has drawn a few characters from those
comics. Arnab gets fascinated looking at those drawings.
NIGHT. Arnab enters the house and gets a shock to find the
house in a mess. Everything from the cupboard to the sofa
cushions, clothes, newspapers, bags, etc are lying all over
the floor. Rukhsana quietly walks out of the room. She
extends a file towards Arnab. A surprised Arnab can’t
understand what to say.
NIGHT. Rukhsana notices a packet lying on the bed. She opens

the packet to find a drawing book and a pack of colour
pastels. Rukhsana innocently turns around to see Arnab who is
still busy cleaning the living room.
NIGHT. Arnab is teaching Rukhsana how to use a fridge. She

takes a few steps back when Arnab opens the freezer. Then
slowly she comes ahead, puts her head in the freezer and
feels the chilled air.
MORNING. Rukhsana and Arnab are sitting facing each other and
drinking tea. Arnab picks up the biscuit dabba, takes some
for himself. He is about to pass 2 biscuits to Rukhsana but
changes his mind and gives her the full dabba.
Rukhsana notices how Arnab is dipping the biscuits in tea

before eating it. She tries to imitate him.
AFTERNOON. Lonely apartment. Rukhsana is repeatedly opening

the freezer to feel the chilled air on her face.
Repeatedly, Rukhsana is pulling out the fridge magnet and

leaving it to get stuck on the fridge again.
NIGHT. Arnab is sitting on the sofa and listening to the

music on his earphones connected to an old mp3 player, moving
his head to the beat and repeatedly stealing a glance towards
the bedroom door.
The door is slightly open and Rukhsana’s legs are visible

through the gap. Rukhsana is putting a Boroline on her
fingers just the way Arnab has taught her.
47
Inside the room, Rukhsana is moving her head just like Arnab,
as if she can also hear the song. End of PBS 2.
51 INT. CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE. LIVING ROOM - EVENING
A maid-servant keeps a tray of ‘mishti doi’ filled bowls on a

centre-table surrounded by legs of Arnab & Piyali’s parents
chatting about the marriage.
Arnab’s hands pick up two bowls and leave.
52 INT. CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE. ARNAB’S ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Arnab quietly moves the curtain and enters his room to find
Piyali checking his collection of comic book action figures.
All the figures are nicely kept on a shelf.
PIYALI
Tumhaarey hain?
ARNAB
Haan... Ma ne rakhey hain... aisey
hi... matlab bachpan se hi... aisey
hi..
Arnab gives her a bowl of pudding.
Piyali looks at Arnab. And rather consciously asks -
PIYALI
Achcha tell me. You want to have
kids na?
Arnab looks at her. An awkward moment for both.
ARNAB
Haan... kyun?
PIYALI
Nahi aisey hi....
Arnab does not say anything. Piyali consciously changes the

topic.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Badi achchi condition mein hain...
Mere waley to sab doston ney hi tod
diye they
ARNAB
(smiles)
Mujhe woh problem kabhi nahin
huyi... koyi dost hi nahin they...
PIYALI
Dost nahi they matlab?
48
Piyali feels bad for him hearing this.
ARNAB
Matlab nahi they.... Baat hi nahi
karta thaa kissikey saath... itna
kam bolta tha ke maa darti thhi
kahin dhire dhire awaaz hi gaayab
na ho jaaye ....
Piyali looks at him. He smiles awkwardly.
PIYALI
Aur jab guests aatey to bistar ke
neechey chup jaate they....
Arnab looks startled. She smiles
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Tumhari Maa ne bataaya.
ARNAB
(smiles)
Haan... phir jitna marzi koyi bula
le... baahar nahin aata tha..
He abruptly looks at his watch.
Piyali notices that and changes the topic.
PIYALI
Bore ho rahey ho?
ARNAB
Nahin nahin... voh Kolkata
pahunchna hai na raat ko to...
PIYALI
Isn’t it late?
ARNAB
Haan... par zaroori kaam thaa ...
In the lonely apartment Rukhsana is cutting her nails while

watching TV. Suddenly the nail-cutter gets stuck on a strong
nail.
Rukhsana pushes the cutter with all her strength. The nail is
chipped off with a loud sound and the TV loses its signal.
Rukhsana gets scared.
With unsure hands, she changes the channel on the remote.

49
Suddenly the TV starts on its own and it continues showing a

scene from a 90’s movie, where a woman says “I love you too”
to a man and then they make out.
She gets engrossed in that moment.
CUT TO:
Rukhsana is standing in front of a mirror.
RUKHSANA
(practices)
I love you too... I love you too!
Suddenly tears roll down her eyes. She rubs them off but the
tears continue to fall. She tries to run towards the bathroom
but falls down withering in pain holding her stomach.
54 EXT. MALDA STATION - LATE NIGHT
A train halts on the rain soaked deserted station. Professor

and Faris step out and walk towards the exit. The sound of
the signal can be heard from faraway.
Professor and Faris come out of the station. Only one cycle
rickshaw is waiting under a lamp post surrounded by flying
insects.
FARIS
Kajiya Tola... Aalam Sahib ki
kothi!
They board the rickshaw and slowly it starts moving.
We stay on their grim faces. We can feel they’re going

somewhere important.
55 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Arnab enters the apartment. It is dark. All he can hear is

the sound of someone moaning.
ARNAB
Rukhsana?
Arnab switches on the light to find Rukhsana lying on the

sofa holding her stomach, withering in pain.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Kya hua?
Arnab comes closer to Rukhsana. Her eyes changes, she pushes

him back.
50
RUKHSANA
Paas mat aa... Thodi deir ke liye
akela chhorrh de...
She groans in pain.
ARNAB
Main doctor ko laata hoon...
RUKHSANA
Nahin... kissi ko mat la...
ARNAB
Main abhi aaya...
RUKHSANA
Nahin!
Rukhsana pushes Arnab and gets up from the sofa. She runs to
the bedroom and closes the door. Arnab starts knocking on the
door.
ARNAB
Rukhsana ... bachhon ki tarah
behave mat karo... baahar aao...
RUKHSANA (O.S.)
Theek ho jaungi... abhi akela
chhorh de...
Arnab waits next to the door trying to convince her.
ARNAB
Rukhsana please... madad karney
do...
But Rukhsana does not open the door.
RUKHSANA
Tu kuch nahi kar sakta... aisa
kabhie kabhie hota hai... maheeney
mein ek baar...
ARNAB
Oh...
Arnab backs off
CUT TO:
The clock shows 2AM. Arnab is sleeping on the sofa. Suddenly

the door of the bedroom opens. Rukhsana’s feet can be seen
coming out, quietly.
Her shadow crosses Arnab and goes to the balcony. Then the
silhouette figure crosses the railings to stand on the ledge.
51
56 EXT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT BUILDING - LATE NIGHT
From the ledge, Rukhsana jumps on to a water pipe. She climbs

down 4 floors. There is a strange agility in her movement.
Dabru starts barking noticing her. Slowly Rukhsana walks

closer to him and starts patting his head.
Dabru behaves like a baby and starts whimpering, wagging his

tail.
A drop of blood comes out of Rukhsana’s nose. She wipes it

with one hand and with the other she keeps on patting his
head.
Then suddenly she bites his neck. Dabru tries hard to release
but Rukhsana’s bite is firm. A white poison comes out of her
throat and is poured into Dabru’s neck and starts spreading
all over his body.
Moments later, Dabru’s lifeless body falls on the ground.
Rukhsana lifts up her face with blood ridden lips and eyes
filled with tears.
INTERVAL
57 EXT. ALAM SAHIB’S BUNGALOW - LATE NIGHT
A cycle rickshaw arrives outside a big old house.
Professor and Faris follow a man (old burnt marks on his

face) through a spiral staircase.
They walk through a long corridor and stop in front of a

small door. The man and Professor, both look at each other.
He opens the door for Professor and Faris to enter, while he
waits outside.
58 INT. AALAM SAHIB’S BUNGALOW. SMALL ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Professor and Faris enter a dirty, dimly lit room. A 18/19

year old girl wearing burkha is crouching in one corner of
the room.
There is a white line drawn with chalk from the floor to the
ceiling in a circle. They stop behind the line. The girl
cries aloud seeing them.
YOUNG GIRL
Uncle.. bachaa lo uncle... mujhe
yahaan band karke rakha hua hai...
gaali detey hain... maarte hain...
(MORE)
52
YOUNG GIRL (CONT'D)

kehtey hain main koyi kala pori
hoon... meri madad kardo uncle...
mujhe yahaan sey nikaalo ...
Professor does not pay any heed and waits for her to finish.
The girl breaks down. But after a point, she stops crying.
Looks at them.
YOUNG GIRL (CONT’D)

Kya...? Kya chahiye tujhey?
Professor throws a small plastic sachet inside the circle.

She picks up the packet from the floor and starts looking at
it closely.
Inside the sachet, is a carefully kept hair strand. A smile

appears on her face.

Haraami sala... kahaan se mila yeh?
Professor does not speak.

(lovingly)
Iski khabar chahiye tujhey?
Professor nods his head in affirmation.

Kyun bataun? mawa maangta hai...
daam kya dega?
Professor looks at Faris. However before he could put his

hand inside the bag, the Kalapori gets up and walks towards
them, slowly & seductively.

Bachcha dega? meri kokh mein beej
daalega? Bol budhhey... dega
bachcha?
While pleading, the woman comes ahead but stops before the
white line.

Ab bhi bohut aag hai tere andar...
kuch mere andar bhi daal de.. dega
baccha? usko bhi meri tarah aisey
hi baandh ke rakhna... chalega...
(turning towards Faris)
Kya buddhe... tu dega?
(pleads loudly)
De na...
Kalapori’s rotten teeth and black gums becomes visible.

Professor can’t stand this and starts chanting verses.
53
PROFESSOR
Astaghfirullaaha Rabbi, La Elaaha
illal laahu Mohammadur Rasool-ul-
laah Sallallaahu `Alayhi wa Sallam
(repeats)
Kalapori’s face turns pale. She rushes back to the corner and
closes her ears with both hands. But Professor keeps on
chanting even more louder. After a point she can’t tolerate
the chanting and starts banging her head on the wall.
Professor stops. The Kalapori also stops banging her head.
She turns from the wall, blood dripping down her forehead and
her face has turned into a 70 year old woman with rotten
skin. Again and again, she wipes the blood like sweat.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
Ab bataayegi?
She picks up the packet. Pulls the hair strand out.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
Sach bataana... jhooth bolegi to
main aisa hashr karunga ... dohzak
ko tarsegi...
The old woman looks at Professor for a bit. Brings the hair
strand near her nose and smells deeply.
KALAPORI
Aaah! phool... bahaar aayi hai
usspe... jabba kusum...
(smiles)
Aaj baalon mein teil lagaaya hai
ussney...
Professor and Faris look at each other.
PROFESSOR
Kahaan hai voh?
KALAPORI
Nahin pataa... par khush hai...
zeher abhi nikaala ussney... jisam
thanda hai...
Kalapori starts sniffing heavily.
PROFESSOR
kya hua?
KALAPORI
Ladka... Ek ladka hai usskey
paas... ussey koyi mil gaya...
(smirks)
Wah beti! Dhoond liya koyi
ussney...
54
PROFESSOR
(intensely, cuts in)
Ladka kaun hai?
KALAPORI
Nahin pataa... haan... jawaan
hai... pyar to karta hoga uss se...
(eyes become teary)
Kaam ho gaya... jis kaam ke liye
bani hai... voh kaam... samjho ho
gaya...
The old woman looks at Professor with tears (of happiness) in

her eyes.
Faris pulls out the chicken from the bag and keeps it on the
other side of the line.
With her greedy eyes, the old woman tries to catch the bird
but it flies and sits on a ventilator near the ceiling.
Professor and Faris turn back to exit.
KALAPORI (CONT’D)
Aye budhhey...
Professor turns to see. But there is no one.
The old woman is hanging from the ventilator and eating the
bird. She looks at them with her bloody lips.
KALAPORI (CONT’D)
Kha jayegi... tujhko... tujhko...
sabko... ek ek kar ke... kha
jayegi...
fasilat alddam (Spread the blood...
spread his bloodline)
Kalapori’s words echoes while Professor & Faris leave the

building.
59 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM / BEDROOM - MORNING
Arnab hears a lullaby and wakes up on the sofa. The sound is

coming from the bedroom. Arnab walks towards the bedroom.
Rukhsana is sitting on the floor and sketching a figure on

her drawing pad.
ARNAB
Theek ho?
RUKHSANA
Hmmm...
55
ARNAB
Kal raat to darra hi diya tha!
Rukhsana does not say anything and continues to sketch.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Kya banaa rahi ho?
Arnab sits next to her. Rukhsana stops drawing. She pushes

the copy for Arnab to see.
He looks through her sketch book. There are sketches of dogs,

but then Arnab notices the sketch of a strange face
(illustration). He does not bother and turns over the page to
find a sketch of the moment when Arnab and Rukhsana stood in
the jungle under the same umbrella.
When Arnab looks at her seeing that picture, Rukhsana looks

down.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(hesitantly)
Achha suno... ek aur ashram main
baat hui hai... Monday bulaya
hai...
Rukhsana nods her head while looking down.
Suddenly Arnab’s phone rings. It’s Piyali.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Hellooo ...
PIYALI (O.S.)
Hi, kal raat ko kitney bajey
pahunchey phir?
ARNAB
I think saadhey gyaranh bajey...
Arnab walks to the living room while chatting on the phone.
Rukhsana continues to draw sitting at the same spot. However

she fails to make an arc. She intently looks at Arnab who is
busy talking on the phone. There is a feeling of jealousy
evident in her eyes.
Arnab picks up a pack of cigarette while chatting on the

phone. But the pack is empty. He picks up another pack from
the table. Even that is also empty.
Arnab looks at Rukhsana with disbelief. Rukhsana looks down

and hides her eyes.
56
60 EXT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY
On his way to the office, Arnab gets out of his building. He

notices a small crowd near the main gate.
An old woman is crying holding a piece of bread in her hand.

Another woman is trying to console her.
NEIGHBOUR #1
Aisa aaj kal bahut ho raha hai...
salt lake mein bhi ek ghar mein
chor ghuss aaye... unkey doggie ko
zeher de ke...
NEIGHBOUR #2
Mrs. Pakrashi... galey pe woh
nishaan kya hai?
Arnab comes ahead to look through the crowd and sees the
horrific dead body of Dabru, lying on the ground.
MRS. PAKRASHI
(while crying)
Dabru ko pataa tha ke voh marrney
wala hai... do haftey se theek se
kha nahin raha tha... rota rehta
tha...
From the top, it seems like something has sucked the life out
of the body. His brown skin has turned blue. White froth is
coming out of his mouth. A moody, sentimental music begins in
the background.
61 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - AFTERNOON
The music continues. It’s raining heavily outside. Camera

pulls back from the window to reveal the clothesline in the
corridor & bedroom where clothes and bed-covers are drying.
Due to the wind, the bedsheets are fluttering and moments

later they come back to the same position.
Water droplets dripping down the corner of a bed-sheet.
An impression of a hand appears on a bedsheet. The hand moves

along the cloth with the music.
From a top shot camera reveals that Rukhsana with closed

eyes, lying on the floor with open hair.
The earphones are lying close to her ears on the floor. It’s
connected to Arnab’s old MP3 player which is kept over her
stomach.
Suddenly the sheet gets slightly torn by her pointy sharp

nails. Rukhsana opens her eyes.
57
She gets up and looks at her nails with surprise. The same
music now becomes faint, heard from the earphones.
Suddenly the sheet behind her sways in the wind and reveals a
Kalapori, standing.
KALAPORI
fasilat alddam
Rukhsana gets a shock hearing this. She turns around slowly

and with trembling hands, removes the sheet. But there is no
one.
She walks to the dressing table, looking for the nail-cutter

but it’s not there. A female laughter is heard.
Rukhsana panics.
She runs through the hanging sheets and starts searching for
the nail cutter under the bed, living room sofa, behind the
tv, inside the fridge... in every nook and corner, all over
the house.
As if there is a strange discomfort in her body. Repeatedly

she starts rubbing her nails on her knees. She starts
breathing heavily (like Ifrit).
Finally she runs to the bathroom and opens the case behind
the mirror and opens Arnab’s shaving kit.
Suddenly, she hears somebody crying for help and it’s coming
from the bucket filled with water, kept under the tap.
Rukhsana goes closer to the bucket. The water is still.
Suddenly, two hands come out of the bucket, hold Rukhsana’s

head and forcibly dunks it inside the bucket.
62 INT. SATANIC EXPERIMENT HALL - NIGHT
Someone throws water from a bucket on Rubina’s face. With

drowsy eyes, she looks around. Gradually her vision gets
clearer. Rubina realizes that she is inside a decrepit hall,
only lit with candles.
Both her hands are tied to a pole and her legs are spread and
tied to 2 different poles.
A small group of men and women are squatting on the ground,

surrounding her. They are quiet but scratching their nails on
the ground in a synchronized manner.
58
The leader (same man whom Professor killed) is seen standing

in front of a wall with the drawing of a ghastly face of
IFRIT (same as Rukhsana’s drawing book) holding a bowl full
of blood. He puts that blood like kohl in Ifrit’s eyes.
LEADER
(while murmuring, obscure)
fasilat alddam
He walks towards Rubina.
RUBINA
Chor do mujhe... chor do...
The leader puts the same blood under her eyes as well.
Then he brings a hot metal rod, out of the furnace and

imprints Rubina’s right hand with it.
Rubina screams in pain.
63 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM - EVENING
Present Day. Rukhsana pulls her head out of the water and
pushes the bucket, which falls on the floor and water flows
out.
She rushes to the corner whiles panting in fear, looking at

the empty bucket.
64 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM / BEDROOM - NIGHT
Arnab enters the dark apartment. He switches on the lights

and notices a few drops of blood on the floor. The clothes
are still hanging and swaying in the wind.
Arnab follows the blood drops, moving the clothes hanging in

the way and enters the bedroom.
Inside the bedroom a blood ridden vegetable knife is lying on

the floor and Rukhsana is sitting and sucking her fingers.
While she is sucking fingers of one hand, blood is coming out

from the other hand and legs. However, she is not worried
about it.
Arnab gets a shock to see Rukhsana like this. Rukhsana tries

to smile somehow at Arnab even in such a horrible situation.
ARNAB
Yeh kya kar diya?
Rukhsana smiles faintly.

59
RUKHSANA
Bahut dhoonda... nahin mila...
nakhoon kaatney wala... voh... voh
nahin mila...
ARNAB
(horrified)
To chhurri ke saath kaat liye?
Paagal ho kya?
RUKHSANA
(feeling guilty)
Theek ho jayega...
ARNAB
(exasperated)
Shut up! Waisey bhi yahaan rakh ke
itna risk le raha hoon... kaisey
samjhaunga logon ko agar kuch ho
gaya to...
RUKHSANA
(murmurs)
Mujhey kuch nahin hoga... mujhey
kuch nahin hota...
Arnab angrily stares at Rukhsana for a moment and then gets a

tube of Boroline from the dressing table.
As soon as he tries to put the ointment, she pulls back her

legs (like the first time). In the same way Arnab offers her
the tube to put it on herself.
Instead she straightens her legs towards Arnab. He looks at

Rukhsana and then starts putting ointment on her toes.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Maaf... maaf kar de...
ARNAB
(while applying ointment)
Maafi to mujhey maangni chahiye...
Rukhsana does not understand; Arnab takes out the nail-cutter

from under the mattress and keeps it next to her.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Sorry... mujhey pataa hota ke yeh
karney wali ho to main... meri
cigarette kyun pheinki? ... Isliye
mazaak mein mainey bhi nail
cutter...
RUKHSANA
(innocently)
Mainey nahin pheinki...
60
ARNAB
Aapne nahin pheinki?
Rukhsana looks down and slowly moves her head to say no.
However a mischievous smile appears on her face and extends
her hands towards Arnab.
Arnab looks at her skeptically and then a smile appears on

his face. He starts applying the ointment on her fingers
while Rukhsana stares at him. Then suddenly, she whispers in
Arnab’s ears.
RUKHSANA
I love you too.
ARNAB
(surprised)
Huh....
RUKHSANA
I love you too.
Before Arnab could say something, Rukhsana leans ahead to

kiss Arnab. Arnab is flummoxed and takes a couple of steps
back and goes behind a hanging bed-sheet. We can only see his
shadow.
ARNAB
Rukhsana... dekho...
Before Arnab could say anything, Rukhsana moves closer to

Arnab (behind the bed-sheet) kisses him on his lips.
Arnab pushes her back. She comes back again at him and kisses
him hard.
He yelps and moves back (and comes out from behind the
sheet).
Arnab rubs a finger on his lips. There’s a drop of blood.
He looks at Rukhsana (who is still waiting for him behind the

hanging bed-sheet). A moment of silence.
Then Rukhsana runs into his arms and starts kissing his neck.
Moments later, Arnab grasps to pick her up and takes her to

the bed. They pass through a bed-sheet which gets wrapped
around their bodies and falls over them on the bed.
Under the sheet, the movement of the hands and the legs
suggests the beginning of conjugation.
As the camera pulls back and a sound of silent laughter

overlaps the soundtrack.
61
64A INT. ALAM SAHAB’S BUNGALOW. ROOM - NIGHT
The Kalapori is sitting in one corner, sniffing Rukhsana’s

hair and silently laughing her heart out.
68 INT. HOSPITAL. OPERATION THEATRE - MORNING
A pregnant woman screams. A complicated child birth in

process.
There is a frenzy inside the operation theatre. The doctors

and nurses are running helter-skelter since the baby is on
its way.
In the middle of this, Piyali is standing in a corner of the

OT and strangely looking at the doctor struggling to get a
delivery done. The sound of the heartbeat is heard on the
soundtrack.
DOCTOR
(obscure)
Nurse... Get me the injection...
fast...
Piyali is still lost in her thought. The heartbeat starts

growing as the scene progresses.
DOCTOR (CONT’D)
(screams)
Piyali... injection...
Piyali comes out of the trance and rushes to get them. The
sound of the heartbeat ends abruptly.
With trembling hands, Piyali picks up the injections and

keeps them on a tray. However, as soon as she turns, the tray
collides with someone and everything falls on the floor. The
glass bottles break.
PIYALI
(nervous)
Sorry... Sorry doctor...
She starts picking up the broken pieces of glass from floor

on the tray. The sound of the heartbeat is at it’s peak now.
Suddenly someone puts a hand on her shoulder. She panics and

turns to find a senior nurse.
SENIOR NURSE
(politely)
Don’t worry... tum baahar jao...
main sambhaalti hoon...
Piyali leaves the tray and gets up. As if she wants to run
away from that room.
62
DOCTOR (O.S.)
It’s coming... It’s coming....
Sister...
She doesn’t even look at them and rushes to the exit.
Piyali opens the door and comes out of the OT. A newborn baby
cries behind her.
She leans against the corridor wall and starts panting,

trying to control herself.
Suddenly she notices her gloved hands. There’s blood on them.

She leans against the wall and closes her eyes.
68A INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM - DAY
Arnab opens his eyes with utmost tiredness. He turns around

to see that Rukhsana is sitting next to him and intensely
gazing at his eyes. She smiles, as their eyes meet.
RUKHSANA
(whispers)
Sunn...
ARNAB
(embarrassed)
Hmmm...
Rukhsana brings the tea pan from behind and holds it in front
of Arnab’s face.
Arnab couldn’t understand how to react for a moment, then

takes the pan from her and gets up from the bed.
69 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
Rukhsana and Arnab are having tea while sitting on the sofa.
There is a noticeable distance between them. He is finding it
hard to look into her eyes. However Rukhsana is looking at
him with a happy face.
That biscuit’s dabba is kept between them. Rukhsana takes the

dabba and brings out 6 to 8 biscuits.
Suddenly the phone rings. It’s Piyali.
Arnab looks at it for a long time - conflicted, not knowing

what to do. Then picks it up.
ARNAB
I’ll call you back..
He cuts the call abruptly.

63
RUKHSANA
Bahut phone karti hai tujhey...
ARNAB
(surprised)
Kaun?
RUKHSANA
Voh ladki... uss din pooch rahi thi
na... kab ghar pahuncha?
Arnab looks at her strangely - how does she know?
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Mujhey... mujhey voh achhi nahin
lagti... uss se baat mat kar....
We close-in on Arnab’s face.
70 INT. ARNAB’S OFFICE LIFT - EVENING
Arnab is standing inside an elevator with 6 other people.

Some of the men on his right side are joking aloud amongst
themselves. The woman on his left is shouting and talking to
her deaf mother on the phone. However Arnab is in a state of
trance, oblivious to his surrounding.
LIFT-MAN
Sir... 6th Floor....
(calls out to Arnab)
Sir!!!
Suddenly he comes out of the trance. Embarrassed Arnab walks

out of the elevator.
Outside, he finds Professor, Faris & Kanai are waiting.
PROFESSOR
Namoshkar Arnab Babu.
71 INT. ARNAB’S OFFICE. METER ROOM - CONTINUOUS
Arnab is standing with Professor and his men outside the

meter room. The electric meters are making a constant buzzing
sound.
PROFESSOR
Rukhsana naam ki ladki ko jaantey
hai aap?
ARNAB
kaun... kaun Rukhsana...
64
KANAI
(aggressive)
Jhooth bolta hai? Usskey saath
murdaghar aaya tha ke nahin?
Professor stops Kanai.
PROFESSOR
Usski ammi ka aapki gaadi se
accident hua tha... kuch yaad aaya?
ARNAB
(cuts in)
Achha achha... voh... par usskey
baarey mein mujhsey kyun puchh
rahein hai...
PROFESSOR
(after a pause)
Aapkey saath nahin rehti voh aaj
kal?
ARNAB
(irritated)
Kya bakwas kar rahey hain? Voh kyun
rahegi merey saath?
PROFESSOR
Pataa nahin... shayad aapko lagta
hai ke aapki zimmedaari hai...
akhir uski ammi aapki gaadi ke
neechey akey mari...
ARNAB
(low, angry voice)
Suicide tha... sab jaantey hain..
aap ilzaam lagaa rahey hain?
PROFESSOR
Nahin... samjhaa rahey hain... voh
ladki aapki hamdardi ke laayak
nahin...
(whispers)
Voh insaan nahin hai...
ARNAB
Kya?
PROFESSOR
Pari hai voh...
Arnab looks confused
Bachhon ki kahaaniyon wali nahin...
Ifrit ki beti hai... Oladhchakra
mein paidaa hui hai..
(MORE)
65
bahot khatarnaak hai... saalon se
dhoond rahey hai ussey...
ARNAB
Paagal ho kya? Kisney andar aaney
diya? Kaun ho tum log?...
Security... security..
PROFESSOR
Aap galat samajh rahey hain Arnab
Babu... Woh Pari... Naadan... nazuk
lagegi... ishq farmaayegi... moh ka
jaal bichhayegi... aur aap dhire
dhire usme phaste jayenge...
A couple of security guard comes running.
ARNAB
(to the guards)
kisiko bhi andar aaney dete ho tum
log... nikalo inko
One of the guards goes towards Kanai and Faris. The other one
starts pleading Professor.
GUARD
Chaliye Dada... idhar mere saath...
PROFESSOR
Arnab babu, aapne usse nahin, usne
aapko apne paas rakha hain...
kyunki...
The guard now holds Professor’s hand and is about to pull him
when Professor holds his neck in such a way that the Guard
fails to move.
Everyone is spellbound.
chahti hai woh aapsey kuch...aur
jiss dinn ussey woh mil gaya...woh
utne hi pyar sey aapko kaat
khayegi...
Professor’s eyes drop to Arnab’s cut lip.
Ke kaat chuki?
Professor releases the guard, looks at Arnab for a moment and

then walks out with Faris & Kanai.
Arnab stands there alone.

66
72 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM - EVENING
A few strips of paper, glue and scissors are lying in front

of the dressing table while Rukhsana hums an old Hindi song.
She is getting decked up by wearing jewelry like bangles,

earrings, finger rings made out of paper.
Once she is ready, she puts her veil, touches the hand of her
own reflection.
RUKHSANA
(practices)
I love you too... I love you too...
73 INT. BAR - NIGHT
Arnab is sitting inside a dimly lit bar and staring at his

glass filled with cheap whiskey. The line of ash on his
cigarette suggests that he has been holding it for a long
time, in his right hand.
He absentmindedly touches the cut on his lip.
The mobile phone is vibrating and colliding with the glass

repeatedly making a strange sound. The phone screen says
‘Piyali Calling’.
Arnab looks at the mobile for a moment but picks up the glass
and gulps the drink in one go. Then he takes a couple of
drags from his cigarette before stubbing it in the ashtray
and gets up.
74 EXT. BAR / STREETS - NIGHT
A tipsy Arnab comes out of the bar and starts walking towards
his house. What he doesn’t notice is that Kanai is following
him at a distance.
They walk through the narrow shadowy lanes of North Kolkata.
After a point, Kanai takes a turn and loses Arnab.
He looks around without realizing that Arnab is standing

right behind him.
Drunk, angry, frustrated Arnab starts abusing Kanai.
ARNAB
Saaley... peecha kar raha hai.
Chahta kya hai? Police ko bulaun?
Arnab becomes a different person. A tiff breaks out between

them. Kanai falls on the ground.
67
Arnab strangles Kanai with his hands. Kanai somehow reaches

out to a broken brick, hits it hard on Arnab’s head and runs
away.
A decked up Rukhsana waits in front of the door, hearing the

footsteps.
Arnab enters the apartment and closes the door, the keys fall
from Arnab’s hand.
He bends down to collect the keys, drops of blood fall on the

floor. He picks up the key and looks at Rukhsana. Blood is
dripping down his head. His shirt is almost drenched with
blood.
Rukhsana gets a shock looking at him. Arnab tries to walk

ahead but falls down. Rukhsana runs and holds him in her lap.
RUKHSANA
Kya hua tujhey?
ARNAB
Woh kyun dhoond rahaa hain aapko?
Kya chahiye ussey?
RUKHSANA
Kissne kiya yeh?
ARNAB
Voh log... pataa nahin... kya
bakwaas kar rahey they... kuch...
oladhchakra... ifrit... pari...
kiss moh mein baandh rahi ho aap?
(laugh)
Kya jaal bichhaya hai?
RUKHSANA
Kissney kiya yeh?
ARNAB
(laughs)
Voh murdaghar wala... saala...
chhorro ussey... yeh batao... kya
jaal bichhaya hai?
Rukhsana’s face becomes stern.
76 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Arnab is sleeping with bandaged head. Sometimes his lips are

trembling with some unknown words.
Rukhsana is sitting next to him, stroking his head while

singing lullaby. The trembling of his lips slowly stops.
68
Rukhsana gets up and switches off the light.
77 I/E. MORGUE - NIGHT
It’s pouring outside. From the 1st floor window, Kanai is

seen, walking across the room while on a phone call.
KANAI
Sahab kya karta... ussney dhar liya
mujhey... nahin sahab... chhup
chhup ke peecha kar raha tha... ma
kasam... pata nahin uss haraami ko
kaisey pataa chalaa... hello...
hello...
Kanai throws the phone on the bed with frustration. Picks up

a bottle of RUM from bedside table and starts pouring in a
glass.
Suddenly there is a sound of stretcher wheels. As if somebody

is pulling a stretcher away and bringing it back. Kanai does
not bother at first and continues to drink. However the sound
continues.
Kanai gets up from the bed, slowly comes out to a dimly lit
‘L’ shaped corridor. Stretchers are parked in one line.
Kanai notices a stretcher at the end of the corridor is

moving on its own. As if somebody pushed it hard from behind
the wall. Carefully Kanai starts walking towards the
stretcher.
KANAI (CONT’D)
(calls out)
Prahlaad....
Nobody responds. Kanai continues to walk. He senses a shadowy

figure is also walking behind him. However as soon as he
looks back the figure is gone. [Intercuts with CCTV footage]
The stretcher strikes against the wall and rebounds. Kanai

stops it and finds a few drops of blood on it.
He turns towards a room full of freezers on the right of the

corridor. Kanai is shocked to see that someone has opened the
doors and pulled out few bodies on trays. The room is filled
with smoke from the freezer.
Kanai picks up a big knife (used for cutting bodies) from the
surgical table.
KANAI (CONT’D)
(shouts again)
Prahlaad... haraamkhor... kissney
kiya yeh?
69
Kanai slowly walks towards the freezer. One by one, he starts

pushing the bodies in and closing the door. (Everytime he
closes the door the anticipation of somebody hiding behind
the door grows.)
Till the last one. He pushes the body inside but again pulls
it back. There are drops of blood on its face. Kanai touches
the blood. It’s fresh. A few drops fall over his hand.
Kanai gathers courage and slowly looks up. Rukhsana in

silhouette is sitting over the freezer. Suddenly she jumps
over Kanai.
Rukhsana bites his throat and pours the poison.
Kanai tries hard to release himself. He strikes from one wall

to another, from the table to the freezer but can't free
himself from Rukhsana’s grasp.
Finally, he falls down. From the top we see Rukhsana is

sitting on the life-less body of Kanai. Rukhsana takes her
head up, wipes the blood off her mouth while panting .
Suddenly she hears a scream. She turns to see Prahlaad is

standing near the door looking at her with horror.
Rukhsana runs from there with great speed. She jumps from one
wall to the other like a monkey and goes out from a window
near the ceiling.
Then from there, she jumps on to hold a drainage pipe and

starts climbing it up. She gets on to the terrace and jumps
from one to the other before disappearing in the darkness.
78 EXT. TERRACE - LATE NIGHT
Rukhsana is sitting in the corner of a dark terrace under the

rains, trembling in fear. She gets a lockjaw and her teeth
start making the rattling sound.
She tries hard to control by hugging herself. But she can’t

and starts sobbing relentlessly.
She looks up at the sky and shouts. But a strange low sound
comes out of her mouth. Like a silent howl.
79 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - MORNING
Arnab wakes up in the morning and sees that Rukhsana is

sitting next to the bed, holding his hand while dozing off.
Slowly, Arnab takes his hand back. That wakes her up.
RUKHSANA
Kaisa hai?
70
ARNAB
Theek hoon!
Arnab tries to get up but feels an acute pain in his head.

Rukhsana tries to help but Arnab removes her hand.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Bola na theek hoon...
Suddenly his phone rings. Arnab looks at Rukhsana and walks

to the balcony to receive the call.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Hello
PIYALI (O.S.)
Finally... Ab ja ke phone utha
rahey ho?
ARNAB
I’m so sorry! Kal kuch... ghar late
pahuncha...
PIYALI (O.S.)
Abhi kahaan ho? Ghar pe?
ARNAB
Haan
Suddenly Rukhsana hears something. She rushes to Arnab and

pushes him from behind.
RUKHSANA
Koyi aa raha hai...
ARNAB
Ek.. Ek second hold karna...
(annoyed, whispers to
Rukhsana)
Kya
RUKHSANA
(pointing to the door)
Koyi hai...
ARNAB
(irritated)
Koyi nahin hai...
Suddenly the bell rings. Arnab looks surprised. He walks

towards the door, holding the phone in the same way. He looks
through the keyhole and finds it’s Piyali, standing at the
door.
PIYALI
Kya hua? Darwaza kholo... main
baahar hoon...
71
Arnab panics. He rushes to the bedroom and shouts from there.
ARNAB
Haan... ek second ... aaya!
He cuts the call and turns towards Rukhsana. There’s a

strange look in her eyes.
Arnab almost forcibly takes Rukhsana inside the bedroom.
RUKHSANA
Kyun aayi hai? Kyun?
ARNAB
Please... Please... meri baat
suno... Chup chaap yahan andar...
kamrey mein raho... jo bhi ho
jaaye... baahar mat aana... samjhi?
He closes the door over her sad face, then goes to the main
door and opens it.
PIYALI
Mujhey lagaa khologey hi nahin...
(notices the wound)
Oh god! Kya hua?
ARNAB
kuch nahin... chota sa accident...
PIYALI
Oh shit... accident hua aur kissi
ko bataya nahin? Doctor ke paas
gaye?
Arnab nods.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Dikhao...
Piyali comes really close to Arnab and starts inspecting the

wound while Arnab looks below the bedroom door where a shadow
is impatiently moving across the room.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Kaisey doctor ke paas gaye they?
Patti bhi theek se nahin ki... Ghar
pe bandage hai?
ARNAB
haan... par... rehney do na...
theek hai ab...
Arnab couldn’t finish the sentence looking at Piyali.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Achha theek hai... laata hoon...
aap baitho... main abhi aaya...
72
Arnab goes to the other room looking for bandage while Piyali
continues to talk.
PIYALI
kal bahut gussa thi tumsey...
tumhey kuch bahut zaroori bataana
tha... kitna phone kiya... tumney
uthaya hi nahin..
Arnab gets a shock as soon as he walks out with the bandage.

Piyali is roaming inside the bedroom. He gets even more
shocked seeing there’s no sign of Rukhsana there.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Achha hai kamra...
Suddenly she notices something below the bed. Piyali bends

down to see that. Arnab is about to get a heart attack. But
Piyali pulls out Rukhsana’s drawing book. She starts going
through the drawings.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Tumney banayi?
ARNAB
Haan...
PIYALI
Arrey wah... bataya nahin ke artist
bhi ho...
She takes the bandage from Arnab, holds his hand and makes
him sit on the bed.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
(looks to the sketches)
Mera aisa ek sketch banaa ke dogey?
Arnab can’t find words to say. He nods his head to say yes.
Piyali starts dressing his wounds while talking.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Right profile... selfies mein bhi
meri right side hi achhi lagti
hai... par yeh jo left wala mole
hai ussko right side pe daal saktey
ho? Thodi si cheating to chalti hai
na?
Arnab doesn’t even listen properly what Piyali is saying. His

eyes keep on searching all over the room to find Rukhsana.
Suddenly he comes out of the trance when the dressing is
done.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Ho gaya...
Piyali notices that Arnab is sweating.

73
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Kya hua? Tabiyat kharaab hai?
ARNAB
Nahin...
A smile appears on Piyali’s face. She looks at the distance

between them.
PIYALI
darr rahey ho... yoga karein?
She sits next to Arnab. Arnab starts sweating more profusely.
ARNAB
Aap...
PIYALI
Tum...
ARNAB
Main?
Piyali laughs huskily.
PIYALI
Jab kissi se pyar kartey hain... to
tum kehtey hain...
Suddenly she kisses Arnab right on his lips. At that moment,

a gust of wind moves the curtains.
Between the curtains, Arnab sees Rukhsana hanging upside down

from the window ledge and looking at them with jealous eyes.
Arnab panics. Moves Piyali away who gets surprised because of

this strange behavior. Piyali looks discomfited.
ARNAB
Sorry... woh... actually...
Piyali looks embarrassed.
PIYALI
Nahin.. Its ok! Mujhey shayad...
sorry.
An awkward silence. Piyali stands up.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Main chalti hoon
(Arnab gets up)
nahin nahin... you don’t have to
come... Main chali jaungi... Bye.
Piyali leaves. Rukhsana moves the curtains and enters the

room.
74
ARNAB
Aap... aap wahaan kaisey gayi??
Rukhsana does not answer. She comes and sits next to Arnab.
RUKHSANA
Tu... tum...
(tasting the word)
tum... tum kaho...
ARNAB
Kya?!
She puts her hand on Arnab’s lips and starts rubbing off the
lipstick marks.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Dekho...
She stops for a moment and tries to hear something. Then she
turns to look at Arnab.
RUKHSANA
Shhh...
Rukhsana moves her head to say nothing. Then slowly she

brings her lips closer to Arnab’s to kiss him.
Someone comes and stands near the door. Arnab turns to see
that it’s Piyali, looking at them with disbelief. Arnab gets
up, spellbound.
Rukhsana slowly goes and stands behind Arnab. She peeps from
behind Arnab’s shoulder and looks at Piyali with a faint
smile on her face.
Piyali walks in, collects her phone from the bed and rushes
out. Arnab follows her.
Rukhsana quietly comes to the Living Room, switches on the TV

and starts watching cartoons.
80 EXT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT / STREETS - CONTINUOUS
Piyali rushes out of the building and starts walking towards

the main road. Arnab follows her.
As soon as he catches Piyali, Arnab tries to hold her hand

but Piyali moves it away.
ARNAB
Piyali... meri baat suno
PIYALI
Honest lagey thhey tum... iss liye
haan kahaa tha... Isliye...
(MORE)
75
PIYALI (CONT'D)
Main bhi kuchh chhupaana nahi
chahti thhi... Bataaney aayi thi
kuchh... Par... chhupa toh tum
rahey thhey... I feel like such a
fool...
She turns away with tears in her eyes. A bus arrives, Piyali
gets on. The bus leaves. Arnab gets annoyed.
81 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - DAY
Angry, frustrated Arnab comes back to the apartment. Rukhsana

is still watching cartoons on TV.
ARNAB
Kya chahiye mujhsey?
Rukhsana does not speak.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Mujhey nahin pataa kahaan jaogi...
kya karogi... bas yehaan se jaao
RUKHSANA
(strong voice)
Nahin jaungi!
ARNAB
Kya matlab? Sirf ek galati ki wajah
se tumhey lagta hai ke tum kuch bhi
kar sakti ho? Kuch nahin hai hum
dono ke beech mein... niklo yahaan
se... khud nahin jaogi to dhakkey
maar ke nikaal doonga...
Arnab forcefully tries to turn her around. She charges

towards Arnab, strangles him. The TV loses the signal.
RUKHSANA
(in a husky voice)
Nahin jaungi!
Suddenly she gets back to her senses and releases him. The
signal on TV comes back and the cartoons continue to play.
Rukhsana rushes closer to Arnab.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Maaf... maaf kar de...
She tries to help him get up but Arnab moves her hands away.
He is shocked beyond belief and rushes to the bedroom.
He locks the door from inside. Rukhsana continues to knock

and apologize to him. But Arnab does not open the door. He
sits against the door.
76
82 INT. MORGUE. FREEZER ROOM - EVENING
Professor, Faris and Prahlaad stand surrounding Kanai’s dead

body, kept on a surgical table. The body has shrank and
turned blue with poison. Professor is carefully examining
the two small holes on his throat, blue nails, his eyeballs
and inside of his nose.
Prahlaad is getting restless and looking towards the door.
PRAHLAAD
Jaldi karo sahab... doctor aa gaya
to naukri jayegi meri...
PROFESSOR
Video kahaan hai?
Prahlaad gets hesitant hearing this.
83 INT. MORGUE. OFFICE ROOM- CONTINUOUS -
Professor and Faris are standing in front of a monitor. Hazy

footage of Kanai’s death is playing on the screen.
PRAHLAAD
Main baahar jaata hoon sahab...
Prahlaad closes the door from outside.
FARIS
Kya lagta hai?
Professor pauses the video. It’s the point during the scuffle
where Rukhsana turns towards the camera with glowing eyes.
PROFESSOR
Bahut kam zeher daala... zinda
rehney ke liye nahin... sirf badla
lene ke liye... voh kala pori galat
thi... ishq ladkey ko nahin...
ladki ko hua hai...
Professor zooms in the image and we see Rukhsana, looking

like a savage. Her eyes are glowing in darkness like an
animal.
Arnab is sitting in that same position. He loses his balance

while dozing off and wakes up. A sheet of paper is lying on
the floor. He turns the page to see a sketch of Piyali.
Rukhsana must have put it below the door. It’s her right
profile with a mole, just like the way she wanted.
Arnab cautiously opens the door and walks outside.

77
He enters the living room to find Rukhsana is sitting on the

sofa and trying to fold her clothes which clearly she doesn’t
know how to.
She is wearing her old clothes. Rukhsana stands up looking at

Arnab.
RUKHSANA
(showing the bundle of
clothes)
Yeh le jaun?
ARNAB
(after a pause)
Kahaan jaogi?
Rukhsana gives the same old blank look to him.
ARNAB (CONT’D)
Ashram walon ne Monday ko aaney ke
liye kaha tha... ek aur din ruk jao
Rukhsana nods her head without looking at him. Arnab wants to

say something to her but walks away from there, quietly.
The TV is on mute in the background as Arnab walks around

trying to make a call to Piyali. At one point - his eyes fall
on the TV screen. Something catches his eye - a picture of
Kanai. He increases the volume.
NEWS READER
(Bengali)
Gotokal ratre Katapukur Morguer ak
kormochari...Kanai Mahapatror deho
mrito obosthay lash kata ghor theke
uddhyar kora hoyeche...
Protokhyodorshi onyo ak kormochari
ekti meyeke...
Arnab mutes the channel but continues to watch, Prahlaad

animatedly giving bytes.
Camera travels on Arnab’s face. A sense of fear and disbelief

gradually appears on his face.
Suddenly, the phone rings on vibration. Arnab answers the

call in a trance.
ARNAB
Hello
PIYALI (O.S.)
Main shaadi tod rahi hoon! Please
baar baar phone karna band karo.
78
Arnab cuts the call abruptly.
He walks towards the bedroom to find Rukhsana is sleeping

like an innocent baby.
86 I/E. VARIOUS - DAY
Arnab is sitting in front of the laptop in his office cabin.

The cursor is blinking on Google Search Bar. Arnab types -
OLADHCHAKRA.
Amongst some unwanted links, Arnab clicks a link which says:

‘THE MISSING GIRLS OF SATHKHIRA’.
ARNAB
(reads / VO)
1990 mein Bangladesh ke Sathkira
ilaakey mein ek khabar ne dehshat
phailaayi huyi thi. Yeh khabar sach
thi ya mithya kissi ko nahin pata.
Unn dinon kaafi ladkiyan sathkira
aur aas paas ke ilaakon se gaayab
ho gayi thi... maana jaata tha ke
inhey aghwah karney wala ek samooh
tha jiska naam tha Oladhchakra.
CUT TO:
Rubina is lying in the middle of the dimly lit room and

screaming in pain.
A circular shape (which Kanai saw earlier) appears on

Rubina’s hand as soon as the leader removes the hot rod.
The disciples are scratching their nails on the floor while

making a strange noise.
The leader covers her with a white KAFAN while chanting

verses in Arabic.
LEADER
(while murmuring, obscure)
fasilat alddam
CUT TO:
Arnab is traveling in the cab through a deserted highway. The

car stops at the accident spot.
CUT TO:
Arnab enters the archive room of his newspaper office. The

archives are kept in row.
79
Arnab goes through them and stops at the 90s. He takes out a
few archives. Dust flies off as he keeps them on the table
Arnab is flipping pages, a headline gets his attention

“Missing Girls, mystery continues”.
He reads the news and flips the page in a rush. Headlines

appear - “Police denies Satanic Involvement”. Again. he
turns pages.
Headline appears - “Professor detained for inquiry” with a

picture of Professor (with a bandaged eye) getting in a van
with 3 Police Men (Bangladesh).
ARNAB
(reads)
Dhaka University ke Professor Kasim
Ali ko Police pooch taach ke liye
le gayi hai... kahaa ja raha hai ke
Professer kasim ali Qayamat Andolan
ke karta dharta hain.
CUT TO:
Arnab comes and stands outside Rukhsana’s house. A few dogs

who are still there, bark at Arnab.
CUT TO:
The leader continues to murmur the lines. The scratching of

the nails continue.
The flames of the candles quiver. A presence is felt inside

the room. A strange sound of breathing is heard.
CUT TO:
Arnab now types Qayamat Andolan on Google Search and opens a

recent news link. It opens the same news link from Bangladesh
Tribune - 17 Baby heads were found from a construction site”
ARNAB (CONT’D)
(reads)
Yeh andolan... Oladhchakra ke
khilaaf ladh raha hai. Aam janta
iss aandolan ke paksh mein hai par
inkey taur tareekon aur kattar soch
ki wajah se government ne inpe rok
laga di hai aur issey gair kanooni
bataya hai...
Arnab finishes reading and types Professor Kasem Ali on

Google. Along with the links of a few thesis papers, a book’s
name appears on screen - ‘THE EVIL CHILD’.
CUT TO:
80
Arnab enters the cowshed where Rukhsana was found. He sees

the chain which is still lying on the ground.
Suddenly, a dog barks. Arnab turns to see the dog, strangely

looking at him while standing outside.
The dog starts walking towards the jungle, behind the house.
Arnab follows the dog, as if he is in some kind of trance.
CUT TO:
The flames of the candles are quivering really faster.
A form of a man’s body gradually takes it’s form under that

Kafan.
Rubina screams in fear.
CUT TO:
Arnab enters an old library. Starts going through a row full

of old books and finally finds “The Evil Child”
He starts turning pages of the books and finds various

strange illustrations of the satanic culture - a hand with
big nails, pregnant woman giving birth while the Kalapori
watches from a distance. Arnab reads a few lines from the
book.
PROFESSOR (V.O.)
Ifrit sabsey khatarnaak jinn hai...
yeh insaanon ke saath jismaani
rishta rakh saktey hain... jiski
wajah se insaani ladkiyaan ifrit ke
bachchey ko janam de sakti hain...
Arnab finds a picture of Ifrit.
CUT TO:
Arnab has seen the same illustration of Ifrit’s face in

Rukhsana’s drawing book.
CUT TO:
Arnab follows the dog to a clearing where he sees a big

banyan tree standing in the middle of nowhere; surrounding
the tree are numerous small mounds.
The dog barks out loud as Arnab steps towards those mounds.
He reaches for them and starts digging one with his bare
hands. By then the other dogs have gathered behind him.
CUT TO:
The body under the Kafan has taken it’s shape. Rubina
continues to scream as the body seems to grip her.
81
The Kafan starts moving up and down, while Rubina’s screams

get shriller. A monster starts brutally raping Rubina.
The disciples cry, the sound of scratching and the leader’s

chanting in Arabic, overlap Rubina’s scream.
CUT TO:
Back in the Library, Arnab continues to read the book.
PROFESSOR (V.O.)
Ifrit ke bachchey humarey bachchon
ki tarah nau maheeney mein nahin
balki hijri calendar ke ek maheeney
ke andar paida ho jaatey hain...
Inn bachchon ke khoon mein zeher
hota hai... Agar 29 din mein unhone
yeh zeher nahi nikala to unka zeher
unko hi maar dega... yeh bachchey
sirf ek hi maqsad ke liye iss
duniya mein janam letey hain...
CUT TO:
Under that tree, Arnab has unearthed the skeleton of a dog;

seeing this, the other dogs start howling in unison. A
thunder strikes somewhere close-by and it starts raining.
PROFESSOR (V.O.)
aur bachchon ko janam deney ke
liye... ifrit ki nasal ko aagey
badhaaney ke liye...
CUT TO:
The leader is now chanting the Arabic verse at the top of his
voice.
LEADER
(shouting)
fasilat alddam
For the first time we will see the subtitles - SPREAD THE
BLOOD... SPREAD HIS BLOODLINE.
CUT TO:
Dabru’s dead body lying on the ground. The montage ends.
Rukhsana wakes up with a jolt on the bed. She takes some time
to settle down and gets out of the bed.
82
Suddenly she feels an acute pain in her stomach and falls on

the floor.
Rukhsana checks her eyes, there are no tears. She checks her
nose, there is no blood.
Suddenly she hears somebody is humming the lullaby. She tries

to get up. Thats when she realizes that she has chains locked
to her right ankle. She tries hard to open it. But it’s too
strong.
The other end of the chain goes all the way to the living
room. Rukhsana follows the chain while limping because of the
weight of the chain.
As she is moving closer, the song also starts becoming

louder.
Rukhsana enters the room and sees that the other end of the
chain has gone behind the sofa.
She comes and stands next to the the sofa and sees that the
other end of the chain is locked and connected to Evil
Rukhsana’s ankle. She is sitting on the floor (behind the
sofa) and feeding a baby with a feeding-bottle which has
blood in it while singing the lullaby.
Rukhsana screams in horror. However, before she can run away

from there, the door closes behind her.
Camera slowly tracks back from the closed door and all we can
hear is Rukhsana screaming in fear while trying to open the
door.
88 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - EARLY MORNING
A POV shot. Someone enters the apartment. The lights in the

living room are flickering faintly.
There is a constant sound of water falling, coming from the

bathroom.
Slowly the POV comes closer to the bathroom to find that the
tap is on. Rukhsana is sitting in one corner. Her clothes are
wet.
RUKHSANA
(looks at the POV)
Kahaan they... tum?
ARNAB
(scared, after a pause)
Kya hua?
RUKHSANA
Woh wapas aayi thi... woh mujhe
bula rahi thi...
83
ARNAB
Kaun?
With trembling hands, Rukhsana points towards the dark

corridor. Arnab also turns, but there is no one behind him.
Rukhsana comes closer to Arnab.
RUKHSANA
(scared, whispers)
Mujhe darr lag raha hai... tum
mujhe chod ke mat jaana... bahut
dar lag raha hai...
While saying this, she hugs Arnab. The bag from Arnab’s
shoulder falls on the ground making a sound (of metal
chains).
Rukhsana knows that sound. She looks at Arnab with surprise.
ARNAB
Sorry...Agar mere saath rehna hai
toh...
He couldn’t finish the sentence. A faint, sad smile appears

on Rukhsana’s face. Music fades in.
89 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT. BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
The music continues. Arnab, standing on a stool, removes the

ceiling fan and puts the chain through the hook. Rukhsana
stands and watches him.
He takes the other end of the chain and tries to lock both
her legs. However, he is not aware how to do it.
Rukhsana takes the chain from his hand and locks herself up.
She takes his hand and places it on her stomach.
RUKHSANA
Pataa chal raha hai?
Arnab moves his head to say NO.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
(very softly)
Mere peit main baccha hai...
He gets a shock hearing this. Rukhsana is looking at him with

deep love and affection in her eyes.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
(beat; whispers)
I love you too...
Suddenly she hears some footsteps and gets up.

84
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Koyi aa raha hai...
ARNAB
(comes out of the trance)
Haan...
RUKHSANA
Ja.. Darwaza khula hai... jaake
bandh kar...
However, Arnab does not move from there.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
(desperate)
Khada kyun hai... Ja na
Before Rukhsana could finish, Professor enters the room with

his men.
Rukshana goes pale seeing them. Slowly with trembling feet,

she hides behind Arnab. Holds his shirt from behind.
However, Arnab moves out in front of her and stands next to

Professor. Rukhsana can’t believe her eyes.
She looks at Professor and then at Arnab in shock. He looks

down as soon as their eyes meet.
Faris & Parvez start sealing the windows.
Ismail switches on the television. ‘Ajeeb Daastan’ starts

playing in the background.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
(starts pleading with
tears in her eyes)
Arnab... Arnab... aisa mat kar...
yeh maar dega mujhey... Arnab...
mat jaa... mujhey bachaa le...
Arnab... yeh humaarey bachchey ko
maar dega....
(shouts)
Arnab.... Arnab...
Ismail increases the volume of the television to max.

Rukhsana’s scream is lost under the song.
2 men take out folded dog catching poles from their bag
Faris puts it on her neck and pulls to tighten the noose.

Parvez catches her legs with the pole and pulls them.
Rukhsana falls with her face hitting the floor. Her nose
starts bleeding profusely.
Ismail jumps on her from behind, ties her hands and puts duct
tape around her mouth. Rukhsana lies helplessly on the floor.
85
Arnab tries hard to control himself seeing her condition.
ARNAB
Kitney din lageingey...
PROFESSOR
Waqt lagega... innko maarney mein
waqt lagta hai... jaisey hi hoga...
aapko bataa deingey...
Arnab looks towards Rukhsana for one last time. She is still
mumbling something towards Arnab. He comes out of the room,
takes his bag and leaves the apartment.
Professor pulls out his scourge and goes closer to her.

Rukhsana starts trembling seeing that scourge.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
(smiles)
Rukhsana... aakhir mulaaqaat ho hi
gayi... akhri mulaaqaat hi sahi...
Professor takes the stance to begin lashing Rukhsana.
The sounds of lashing overlaps on following slow track shots:
Empty space below the bed.
The Nail-cutter kept in front of the dressing table.
2 cups and the biscuit dabba is kept on the kitchen shelf
Rukhsana’s drawing book on which a streak of blood comes and

falls.
90 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT BUILDING / STREET - CONTINUOUS
Arnab comes down by the staircase. The song fades.
It’s raining outside. Arnab calls for a Taxi and leaves.
91 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT - EVENING
Professor washes the blood from his scourge in the kitchen

sink. Faris stands behind him. He recoils the scourge and
gives it to Faris.
PROFESSOR
Maartey rehna ussey... jitna gussa
chadhega... zeher utna jaldi
badhega... issko isskey hi zeher se
maareingey...
Faris looks confused

86
Itney saal lagey iss akhri wali ko
pakadney mein... isko thoda tadap
ke marrney do... yeh issi laayak
hai...
Before leaving, Professor slightly opens the door of the

bedroom.
Between the doors, Rukhsana (CU only) slowly looks at

Professor with a devilish anger in her eyes and starts
breathing heavily (like Ifrit).
92 EXT. CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE / ARNAB’S OLD ROOM - NIGHT
Arnab gets down from the taxi. His parents get surprised.
ARNAB’S MOTHER
Babai... tu iss waqt... Piyali ke
father ne phone kiya... kya hua tum
logon key beech...
Arnab does not pay any heed to her. He straightaway walks

inside his room, closes the door, coughs frantically and
throws up on the floor.
ARNAB’S MOTHER (CONT’D)

Babai! Kya hua Babai?
ARNAB’S FATHER
Open the door Arnab
Arnab is lying on the ground. Slowly he curls up in a foetal

position.
DISSOLVE TO:
A bloodied Rukhsana lies bound, in the same foetal position

as Arnab.
94 INT. PROFESSOR’S KOLKATA HOUSE - NIGHT
Professor enters his room while talking on the phone.
PROFESSOR
Bas kuch din aur... kya? tiger?
Tiger to wahaan bhi mil jayega...
oh white tiger accha....
(chuckles)
theek hai le aayeingey... chalo ab
so jao... kal school hai na? Shabba
khair...
87
Professor keeps the phone, takes out his glasses and notices
something in the mirror.
A smile, a sense of fulfillment appears on his face.
A drop of tear falls from the right eye but not the left one.
DISSOLVE TO:
95 INT. ARNAB’S CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE. ARNAB’S ROOM - DAY
Arnab with a beard is standing in front of the mirror.

Suddenly there is a knock on the door.
ARNAB’S MOTHER (O.S.)

Babai darwaza kholo... dekho kaun
aaya hai...
Arnab does not pay any heed to her.
PIYALI (O.S.)
Darwaza kholo Arnab!
Arnab looks at the door for some time.
PIYALI (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Arnab.. darwaza kholo... please...
Slowly he gets up from the bed and opens the door. Piyali
enters. Before Arnab’s mother could say something, Arnab
closes the door on her face.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Kyun kar rahey ho yeh sab? Teen
hafte se ghar sey nahi nikle...
Arnab does not answer.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Sab log mujhey blame kar rahey hain
tumhari haalat ke liye... jo hua
usskey baad main aur kya karti? Why
is it my fault suddenly?
Arnab continues his silence.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Tum ja ke unko sach bataa do...
nahin to main bataa doongi...
ARNAB
(husky voice)
Sach?
PIYALI
Uss... uss ladki ke baarey mein...
phir... shayad...
88
ARNAB
Ladki? Voh ladki nahin... woh
rakshas hai... ifrit ki beti hai...
Piyali stares at Arnab. She has never seen him looking so

vulnerable.
96 INT. ARNAB’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM - EVENING
A heavily pregnant Rukhsana is lying on a wet bloody floor.

Her body is covered with bruises.
At times her body is trembling in acute pain which makes the

chains clatter on the floor.
The duct tape on her mouth is going in and coming out as she
breathes. She is looking at something.
It’s that sketch of Piyali which is lying behind the legs of

the study table.
A sudden moaning comes out of Rukhsana’s taped mouth. Camera

moves closer to her face. A tear drop is rolling down her
cheeks and blood is flowing down her nose.
Faris and Parvez are standing outside the door and watching
Rukhsana.
PARVEZ
Kitna waqt lagega?
FARIS
Zyada nahin... bas kuch ghantey
aur...
97 EXT. CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE. TERRACE / HOSPITAL - EVENING
Arnab and Piyali are standing face to face.
PIYALI
Do you love her?
Arnab looks at her. Long silence.
ARNAB
Bas itna jaanta hoon ki meri wajah
sey woh pregnant hai... aur main
ussey marrney ke liye chhorrh
aaya...
(smirks, on his own)
To rakshas kaun hua? Main ya voh?
Arnab tries to control his tears.

89
PIYALI
Rakshas hum sabkey andar hai
Arnab...
Arnab looks at Piyali.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Yaad hai... uss din main kuch
bataana chahti thi... voh jo mera
affair tha uss ladkey ke saath...
ARNAB
(automatically)
Bike wala doctor...
She gives a bitter smile.
PIYALI
Voh aisey hi nahin khatm hua tha...
main pregnant thi... shuru shuru
main sab thik thaa... kaafi kuch
plan kiya tha hum dono ney...
Flashback: Extreme closeup of a male hand, takes an injection

syringe.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Phir ek din call karke kaha... uss
se nahin hoga...
(beat)
bas itna hi...
(dry smile)
To phir mujhey karna pada...
akeley...
From the injections camera reveals that Piyali is lying on a

hospital bed in the background.
From her POV we see an old doctor, gives her the anesthetic
injection. The images starts becoming blur.
The old doctor takes off his wristwatch and engagement ring.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
Teen mahine ho gaye the...
sonography mein usski heartbeat bhi
suni thi ..
Piyali gives a look to that engagement ring.
The doctor wears the surgical gloves and puts some gel on it.
Piyali couldn’t stand that visual and looks away towards the
wall which has a poster - “LIFE IS PRECIOUS AND WE CARE FOR
IT”. Gradually the poster goes out of focus.
90
PIYALI (CONT’D)
(putting her hand on
stomach )
Jab peit par haath rakhti thi...
feel kar sakti thi ussey....
(beat)
Abhi bhi karti hoon...
Piyali looks at Arnab. The heartbeat continues.
98 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT - DAY
Flashback: Rukhsana puts Arnab’s hand on her stomach.
RUKHSANA
Pataa chal raha hai?
Arnab can feel the heartbeat now.
99 INT. CHANDANNAGAR HOUSE. TERRACE - EVENING
Regret and pain on Arnab’s face.
The lightning and the rumbling of the distant clouds behind

Arnab suggests a storm is on it’s way.
100 EXT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Under the heavy rains, Arnab’s car screeches and stops under
the building, splashing water.
101 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT. STAIRCASE - CONTINUOUS
From the wet boot-marks, camera travels to include Arnab

drenched in the rain, rushing up the staircase.
102 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Arnab cautiously opens the door and enters the lonely

apartment.
He walks inside the living room and switches on the light.

The windows are open, the curtains are flying. The playing
cards, plates with half eaten food are lying on the centre
table. Suddenly he hears clattering of chains.
Arnab opens the bedroom door. He gets a shock as soon as he

switches on the light.
The mutilated body of Faris is hanging from the ceiling, tied

to a chain and due to the wind it is repeatedly knocking
against other two dead bodies lying on the floor making that
sound.
91
Out of the 2 bodies, Parvez’s body has turned blue. White

froth is coming out of his mouth.
103 INT. PROFESSOR’S KOLKATA HOUSE. BEDROOM - NIGHT
While sleeping on his bed, Professor starts feeling some

uneasiness. He turns around and changes his side.
Suddenly his eyes open, Rukhsana is lying next to him and

looking at him.
Professor panics and falls from the bed. Immediately, he gets

up and starts reciting a verse.
PROFESSOR
However, nothing happens to her. Slowly she gets up from the

bed. Professor looks at her with surprise.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
He can’t understand why nothing is happening to her and

continues to recite the verses even louder.
While reciting, he opens a drawer and takes out a pack of

incense sticks. He opens the pack but its empty. The sticks
are not inside. Professor gets a little scared and continues
to recite the verses.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
Again while reciting, he runs to a cupboard and takes out

another pack of incense sticks. Even that’s empty.
All this while Rukhsana was watching Professor running

around. Now, slowly she gets down from the bed.
The phone starts ringing on the bedside table.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
laah Sallallaahu...
Rukhsana starts walking towards Professor.

92
Professor while reciting continues to look for the incense

stick packs. Again he pulls out one packet. However its
empty, again.
Professor lifts his head up and finds Rukhsana is now

standing right in front of him.
PROFESSOR(CONT’D)
Alayhi wa Sallam
She puts her hands on his cheek, softly.
RUKHSANA
(whispers)
Akhri mulaaqat... khatam.
All of a sudden, Rukhsana twists his neck 180 degrees.
Immediately Professor’s body falls. As soon as his head hits

the ground, a semicircular eye comes out and starts rolling
on the floor.
Rukhsana moves her hair from her ears to reveal that she is
wearing Arnab’s headphones which is connected to a mobile.
Rukhsana takes out the headphones, puts it on a table and

leaves.
From the hanging earplugs, we hear ‘Ajeeb Dastaan’ playing

faintly. The ringing of the phone overlaps the soundtrack.
104 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
A restless Arnab is trying to call Professor. Suddenly he

notices a paper flying.
Before it flies off through the open balcony, Arnab stops the
paper at the last moment.
It’s Piyali’s sketch which was once drawn by Rukhsana. What

shocks Arnab is an impression of a bloodied female feet over
that sketch.
Arnab leaves the sketch and rushes out of the house.
105 INT. ARNAB'S APARTMENT. STAIRCASE / PIYALI’S HOUSE - NIGHT
While rushing down the staircase, Arnab calls up Piyali.
PIYALI
Haan Bolo...
Piyali answers the call on a single ring while taking out the
keys from her bag.
93
ARNAB
Kahaan ho?
PIYALI
Bas abhi ghar pahunchi...
She is trying to unlock the door and the key gets stuck.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
ek second hold karo...
Finally she opens the door and keeps the key in her bag.
PIYALI (CONT’D)
(back on phone)
haan.. woh chabi atak gayi thi...
ARNAB
Tumharey parents kahaan hain?
PIYALI
Maashi ke ghar gaye hain... Kyun?
Arnab panics hearing this.
Piyali enters and closes the door.
ARNAB
Ghar ke saarey khidki darwaazey
band kar do...
PIYALI
Kya hua...
ARNAB
Voh ab tak zinda hai...aur... aur
tumhaarey paas aa rahi hai...
PIYALI
Kya?! Tumhey kaisey...
ARNAB
Piyali just... please... kissi ke
liye darwaza mat kholna... jab tak
main nahin aata..
Arnab runs out of the house, gets in to the car and starts
the engine.
106 INT. PIYALI’S HOUSE / HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS
Arnab is rushing through the highway.
CUT TO:
94
Piyali, visibly scared is closing the windows and the doors

one by one.
CUT TO:
Arnab overtakes a few cars one at a time. As soon as he

overtakes the last car, Arnab comes face to face with a
truck. Somehow he manages to avoid the accident.
Again he rushes through the highway.
CUT TO:
She walks through the corridor where the parrot is hanging on

a stick.
Piyali opens the fridge and takes some food out. Suddenly she
hears the parrot screaming.
PARROT (O.S.)
Get out... Get out!
Piyali rushes out to check on the parrot but gets a shock

finding the empty hanging stand moving by the wind. Piyali
hears the sound of chomping coming from the bedroom.
With trembling feet, she enters the room to find a heavily

pregnant Rukhsana sitting on the floor (back to the camera
just like the dustbin scene)and eating the parrot. Rukhsana
turns towards Piyali with a blood ridden mouth and a
feathers.
Piyali screams and runs from there. However Rukhsana

continues to eat. She calmly takes out a few feathers from
her mouth.
Piyali enters the living room, closes the door.
From below the door she notices that a shadow comes and stops
outside. Someone starts kicking the door. The locked door
shakes with the sound.
Piyali runs to open the other door. She tries to reach the
latch to open it but the latch has got stuck. Piyali tries
hard to open it.
Meanwhile the kicking continues on the balcony door. The

moment the door is about to breakdown, Piyali opens her door.
However when she is about to walk out, Piyali finds Rukhsana

is standing outside this door now. Piyali turns to run but
Rukhsana holds her by hair and throws on the wall. Piyali
gets badly hit. Blood starts coming out of her forehead.
Rukhsana stands there holding few strands of Piyali’s hair in

her hand.
95
Piyali tries to get up but again Rukhsana smashes her into

the furniture.
Piyali is lying in between the broken furniture. Rukhsana

bends down to bite her neck.
Suddenly, the TV starts playing a cartoon channel (which

Rukhsana loved) when the remote is accidentally pressed by
Rukhsana’s knees.
For a moment, Rukhsana’s eyes change. Like the earlier

innocent Rukhsana, she looks at the TV.
Right at that moment, Piyali takes a flower vas and hits

Rukhsana’s head who gets a sudden shock and falls on the
floor.
Piyali runs away from there.
Piyali enters her room, closes the door and starts panting.
She waits for sometime but can’t hear any sound from the next
room except a faint sound of moaning.
Piyali thinks for a moment, takes a wooden bar lying by the

side of the door and walks out. She peeps into the next room
to find Rukhsana is lying at the same place, moaning. Blood
is coming out between her legs. A heartbeat begins on the
soundtrack and gradually starts growing.
Rukhsana tries to get up seeing Piyali but fails. She tries

hard to get up but slips by the blood on the floor.
Slowly, Piyali comes closer to Rukhsana holding the bar. She

looks at Rukhsana’s face, then her belly. She holds the bar
firmly and raises to aim for her head. Rukhsana helplessly
looks at Piyali, which pierces through her soul.
She throws the bar away right at the last moment. The
heartbeat ends.
Piyali stands there looking around in panic. Her hands are

shaking. she spots - pillows. etc. Then she approaches
Rukhsana very tentatively - scared.
Piyali puts a pillow below her head and the quilt between her
legs.
PIYALI
Moonh se lambi saans lo...
Rukhsana looks at Piyali with surprise and continues to take

a deep breath. Piyali understands that the time of the
delivery has arrived.
Then she rushes to the kitchen and gets some hot water.
Ruksana starts screaming loudly in pain while pushing the

baby.
96
She holds Piyali’s hand firmly, her nails pierce through

Piyali’s skin and blood starts coming out. In the middle of
all of this, Piyali’s mobile starts ringing.
107 EXT. HIGHWAY / ARNAB’S CAR - CONTINUOUS
Arnab is calling Piyali while driving but she doesn’t answer.

Arnab dials her number again and accelerates the car to the
maximum speed.
ARNAB
(on his own)
Please.. Please.. Please...
The phone keeps on ringing, no one answers. He yells in

frustration.
108 INT. PIYALI'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
The lights in the room start flickering. The TV loses the

signal. Rukhsana starts breathing heavily like Ifrit.
Suddenly Piyali notices, 3 Kalaporis are standing with their

veils removed. All of them look like the old woman from Alam
Sahab’s house. Piyali gets really scared but can’t release
her hand from Rukhsana and run away.
The baby is coming out. The Kalaporis make a strange face and
cry. Rukhsana screams in pain. Piyali shouts in horror.
Suddenly the house sinks into darkness. Rukhsana screams for

one last time before everything becomes quiet. Only the
sounds of Rukhsana’s & Piyali’s breathing can be heard.
A newborn baby cries out loudly.
Gradually the lights come back. So does the signal of the TV

and the cartoon channel starts playing again. Exhausted
Rukhsana releases Piyali’s hands finally. There’s no one at
the window anymore.
Piyali notices the baby on the quilt. It’s a boy with an

umbilical cord, crying.
Piyali cuts the cord and extends the baby to Rukhsana. She
looks at the crying baby. A drop of tear falls from the
corner of her eyes. A drop of blood comes out from her nose.
109 INT. PIYALI'S HOUSE.BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
Piyali comes and stands in front of the bathroom mirror. She

looks at her blood-ridden hands which are trembling with
excitement.
97
Then she looks at herself in the mirror. A faint smile

appears on her face. Then she opens the tap and starts
washing her hands.
110 INT. PIYALI'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Piyali walks inside the TV room with a few towels and notices
only the baby is lying on the bed. Rukhsana is nowhere to be
seen.
Piyali runs out of the room and comes face to face with
Arnab.
ARNAB
Tum theek ho?
(frustrated)
Phone kyun nahi utha rahi thhi?
Piyali does not give him any answer and continues to look for
Rukhsana all over. Arnab stops her.
PIYALI
Woh chali gayi...
ARNAB
Kaun?
PIYALI
Rukhsana... baccha mere paas chorrh
ke chali gayi.
ARNAB
Baccha?
CUT TO:
Piyali extends the baby towards Arnab. He takes the baby in

his arms. For the first time we see the baby.
PIYALI
Delivery ke baad main andar se
tauliya lene gayi...jab waapas aayi
to... Pata nahi kahaan gayi hogi...
111 EXT. BANYAN TREE - NIGHT
Sometime close to the end of night. In the middle of a foggy

wasteland, stands the big banyan tree.
Rukhsana has curled up below the tree while withering in

stomach pain. Blood is profusely flowing down her nose.
98
Suddenly she hears a sound. Rukhsana turns around to see that

Arnab is walking through the wasteland. Fear appears on her
face. Despite her pain, she screams at him.
RUKHSANA
Kyun aaye ho? Ja yahaan se...
chaley ja...
Arnab keeps on walking towards her.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
sunn raha hai na main kya keh rahi
hoon? Paas mat aa...
Arnab does not pay any heed and continues to walk towards
her.
Rukhsana gets up supporting the tree trunk. Then she starts

climbing the tree. However, after going up for a bit Rukhsana
falls on the ground. Arnab comes running and holds her.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
(groaning in pain)
Merey paas mat aa...
ARNAB
kyun? Darr lagta hai?
Rukhsana nods her head to say yes. Arnab holds her.
Suddenly Rukhsana’s eyes fall on something: her dogs. They

have quietly arrived near the tree and are watching Rukhsana
from a distance.
RUKHSANA
Yeh bhi aa gaye...
Arnab turns to see the dogs.
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Innko sab samajh hai... pataa chal
jaata hai inhey jab mujhey zeher
nikaalna hota hai... par kabhie
mujhey chhorrh ke nahin jaatey...
ARNAB
(breaks down)
maaf kar do rukhsaana... main...
main darr gaya tha... tum...
RUKHSANA
Tum?
He looks at her tenderly
RUKHSANA (CONT’D)
Tum?
99
Arnab nods
ARNAB
Tum...
She lights up. Just for a moment looking like the girl she
was.
Rukhsana hugs Arnab tightly. Her throat is near Arnab’s neck

even then also she gulps down the poison with lots of pain.
Her neck turns blue, eyes turn red, white froth is coming out
between her lips. Rukhsana is tying hard to control herself.
Arnab closes his eyes. The camera tracks from them to

darkness.
DISSOLVE TO:
The sky has cleared up a bit. The blue light of early dawn is
falling on the leaves of the banyan tree.
Arnab opens his eyes. Rukhsana’s head is resting on Arnab’s

shoulder. She is dead. Her body has started changing.
He digs a grave under the tree and puts her body to rest in
it.
He covers the grave with soil and leaves that have fallen
from the tree.
As he walks away, the leaves of the tree rustle and sway in

the wind, as if someone is heaving a sigh.
Gradually the frame becomes a sketch from Rukhsana’s drawing

book.
THE END
A sudden whiff of wind scatters all the pages with sketches

of various moments spent between them, all over the floor.
Camera moves over those sketches as the end credits roll.

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PARI

DATE: 9 JUNE, 2017

A CLEAN SLATE PRODUCTION

A dark, stormy night. There is a constant eerie sound of

SUPER - SATKHIRA, BANGLADESH, 1995

Men with scared faces, searching for someone desperately. One

A little away from there, a tall, middle-aged man with beard

Professor does not respond and continues to check on the

Professor turns and gives him a withering look.

Few huts can be seen on the other side of the lake.

2 INT. HUT - CONTINUOUS

A wounded, heavily pregnant woman, screams out in severe

PARVEEN (40s) is sitting next to her and stroking her

An excited cat stands near the doorstep, afraid to enter the

Suddenly the bulb starts flickering. The fire on the stove

The cat gets furious looking at something and runs towards

As Jamila turns, she sees three women wearing black Burkhas

A sudden lightning reveal one of those women’s rotten face

She screams in fear.

But now, there is no one.

Suddenly the pregnant woman screams and sits up hearing

3 EXT. FOREST - CONTINUOUS

4 INT. HUT - CONTINUOUS

The woman continues to scream while writhing in pain.

The pregnant woman continues to scream loudly while pushing

A lightning strikes close by. The baby is born. She is quiet.

The dead baby is not connected to her mother with any

With trembling hands Parveen gives the baby to the mother.

Suddenly they hear a sound of heavy breathing. The fear in

Jameela gets a bad odor.

The bulb flickers heavily, till it bursts, sinking the room

5 EXT. FOREST / RIVER - EARLY MORNING

It’s raining heavily. Rubina is running through the woods

She stops, the river water is flowing over her submerged

6 EXT. THE BANYAN TREE - EARLY MORNING

The sound of her cry dissolves with the howling of a few

7 EXT. PIYALI’S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

A red Wagon-r car is parked outside a rain-soaked two storied

SUPER FADES IN: WEST BENGAL, INDIA, 2017

Laughter of family members can be heard coming from the

Camera leaves them and travels up to the windy terrace where

Suddenly he hears something and turns around. It’s a parrot

8 EXT. PIYALI’S HOUSE. TERRACE - DAY

Arnab takes a step towards it and the bird screams out

PIYALI, 28 arrives from behind holding two cups of tea.

He looks startled and shakes his head to say no.

Arnab smiles. Piyali skeptically looks at him for a moment.

Arnab nods his head to say yes. Again an awkward silence.

Although Arnab hesitates, he continues to breath as

Arnab says yes like an obedient boy. A smile appears on

9 I/E. ARNAB'S FATHER’S CAR / HIGHWAY - DAY

Inside the car, Arnab is much relaxed now. Raindrops start

Arnab's father switches off the radio. Arnab protests.

Suddenly, out of nowhere someone comes right in front of the

A distressed scream. A sudden jolts. The car skids and stops

Arnab sees his father trembling in fear, holding the steering

A burkha-clad woman is lying with face down on the road. A

Arnab's Mother who was standing behind starts puking.