A Short Film by Natasha

Early one morning I got a call. It was from Natasha, a Russian who came to India thanks to an international student exchange program promoting cultural awareness. I lazily got up from my bed to answer it. The voice at the other end seemed a bit excited.

"You know....there is this project I have been planning on for months and now its finished........yeah I directed a movie.........a short film really ......you gotta see it Kartik......"

So being a typical Indian, I quickly took bath and like Arnold in Terminator-II got going on my new bike.

I parked my bike in front of Asha's house because that was where Natasha was staying.

" Hey.........you came really quick!..."

"Anything for my Russian guest", I responded.

Natasha seemed very pretty in her white sari which she managed to get from Asha.

"Where is Asha???.....", I mumbled trying to start a conversation because I always hated the awkward silence which makes the other person think that I had nothing much to say.

"Well........she's gone out to get some things done I guess.......I think she should be back soon"

I heaved a sigh of relief............after all, being a reasonably sane person that I am, I din't want to hear her incessant blabbering about her dog and about how she and Natasha had so many things in common and what things they bought from the market.

But I was surprised nevertheless.....................it was morning time and there was no trace of Asha or her eight yr old brother......

Reading my thoughts Natasha said, "Don't worry dear......Asha will be back and since she took her brother with her, I guess we have the time to check out my short film"

I followed her into the house and helped her as she set up the projector and focussed it on the wall.

She brought couple of chairs and we both sat down.

The movie started with the countdown

five ....
four...
three...
two....
one
start!

I could see that she made the film with her handy cam

"The movie has exactly three main characters and those three are your friends Madhav, Naveen and Sravanth"

"Oh, ..........", I said trying to concentrate on the film.


Here is what I see


A red car at full speed stops in front of the house and I hear a loud honk.
Out from the house comes Naveen and he runs to the car and gets in. He talks to the driver, Sravanth, and also greets Madhav sitting in the back seat.

Sravanth speaks,"guys lets go to the beach"

Madhav says,"pump up the volume mann......."........and so the car starts and hits speed well beyond the city limits. So as they start moving they open coke bottles and have a sip.

It starts getting late and so they race towards the destination at full throttle.

Suddenly Naveen hears a sound and asks Sravanth to stop the car. Sravanth reduces the volume of the sound system and stops the car. The three of them look outside the window and they find everything to be normal.


"It must be your imagination Naveen! thats why I always warn you not to watch too many movies", it was Madhavs voice.

Naveen ignores Madhav's sarcastic tone and shows off his new cell phone......."Guys, check this baby out..its got even a video capture"

"Kool man, we can capture the sun setting", replied Sravanth.

Madhav, sitting in the back spots his friend strolling along the highway and asks Sravanth to stop the car.

"Its been like ten minutes....jees mann when is he going get back in...its already late as it is....", thought Sravanth.

As if responding to Sravanth's thoughts Madhav quickly comes to the car and says,
"ummm guys you go ahead and have fun....I got a little catching up to do with my buddy........I'll see if I can join you later........."

So the car zooms ahead and after covering a small distance comes to a complete halt.

"Oh no what's wrong with this blasted car mann...........Naveen you check out the radiator and see if there is any water in it..........just my luck to stop in this deserted place.......a few kilometers more and we would have hit the beach and civilization too.."

So Naveen gets down and checks out the radiator.

"No luck buddy.........no water!!"

Sravanth gets out of the Car and as he is apparently contemplating the future course of action Naveen switches on his cell and using its video feature records Sravanth's movements.

"Naveen! would you please turn it off......we are in trouble now......be serious "

Sravanth then orders Naveen to stay and look after the Car while he is out.

"So where are you going Sravanth?......... be sure to come back soon because I am afraid of the dark", this was Naveen.


Sravanth goes further down the road and notices a lamp flickering with the wind at a distance. He digresses from the main road and heads in its' direction."Hopefully somebody living in that house would allow me to fill up my bottle", thinks aloud Sravanth.

Soon he was in front of the house,"Anybody there???",he shouts. Not hearing any reply he opens the door and goes inside the house. He finds nobody home and so proceeds towards the bathroom to fill up the bottle. He turns on the tap and places the bottle under it. Instead of water, Sravanth finds to his horror BLOOD dripping out of the tap. Immediately Sravanth throws down the bottle and heads for the door. Just as he was about to go past the door he sees a grisly sight , for, infront of him an eight year old boy with no legs was hovering above the ground and he had the saddest expression on his face. He wore a shining white dress. Sravanth's heart froze and sweat started pouring from his face. Immediately the figure vanished leaving Sravanth in a daze.

Sravanth gathers his wits and starts running towards the car shouting,"Naveen.......Naveen"

To his trepidation, Sravanth does not find Naveen by the car. Desperately he reaches for his mobile phone and dials Naveen's number. He hears a ring but finds Naveen not answering the cell. "Come on damn it .....Naveen please pick it up mann.........", he could hear himself saying.

Sravanth heard a familiar ringtone that sent shivers down his spine. It was Naveen's cell and it was ringing from the bushes a few feet away from him. So Sravanth goes nervously towards the bushes and picks up the phone. It was still in the video capture mode. He stops it, rewinds it and then plays it. Here is what Sravanth sees.

The video quality was poor and Sravanth could make out against the dark background with considerable difficulty that Naveen was capturing his movements and then he heard his own voice "Naveen! would you please turn it off......we are in trouble now......be serious " He saw that Naveen switched it off momentarily but then resumed shooting after a minute . Presently in view was a stray dog." Hey doggie!....want a biscuit", Naveen could be heard saying. The dog went away on hearing Naveen's voice. Naveen's camera then focussed on the road and then the same eight year old boy with no legs that Sravanth saw earlier, materialised out of thin air and just as he appeared, immediately so did he dissappear into the car. Sravanth was completely taken aback and his loud breaths synchronized with that of Naveen's gasps as recorded by the camera.

From what footage that followed further, Sravanth could make out that Naveen was absolutely freaked out and that in his fear he fumbled with his cell near the bushes while running away.

Sravanth then hears Naveen's cell ring and he immediately picks it up. It was Madhav.

"Thank you for calling mann....I am absolutely scared ...come quickly its getting dark and I am stranded here .......please start immediately ..........the car broke down a few miles from where you left with your friend.....please come quickly", Sravanth broke down into tears while talking on the phone.


"Don't worry I am coming...........be cool mann.....I am starting right now", replied Madhav who wondered what could have gone wrong. He knew Sravanth for a long time and there was never an ocassion where he ever showed signs of fear let alone cry.

So Madhav heads for the beach at breakneck speed and soon arrives at the scene where the car is broken down. But nowhere were Naveen or Sravanth were to be found. So Madhav dials Sravanth's number but does not get a reply.

"Where could they be??????", thinks Madhav and then starts going further down the road in search of them.

Suddenly the car comes out alive and rushes towards Madhav. Madhav realizing the car coming towards him tries to avoid it but without success. The car rams into Madhav and the impact forces Madhav's head to propel into the glass infront of the driver thereby cracking it. Through the cracked glass tainted red due to the blood oozing from his forehead, Madhav with his dying breath, peered through the glass for the culprit. He could see at the back seat, bodies of Sravanth and Naveen piled up on top of each other and their bodies smeared with blood. In the driver's seat he saw an eight year old boy with his hands at the steering wheel of the car looking steadfastly at him.


The credits then started rolling

cast

eight year old boy - chikki

Madhav-----Madhav himself
Naveen------Naveen himself
Sravanth-----Sravanth himself

Directed by Natasha.....

I was about to get up from my seat when Natasha told me to continue to watch the movie...........by signs she made it clear that some part was still left.

So I sat looking at the wall where the movie was still playing.........suddenly the movie stopped and the whole movie rewinded by itself in a flash.

It went back to the part where these guys, Sravanth, Madhav and Naveen were enjoying their drive, at full speed
with disco music at maximum volume. The reel stopped and then from a different angle the movie continued. It was the eight year old boy with the white dress!! he was strolling along the road when this car hit him ripping off his legs on the go. The eight year old screamed and lay writhing with agony on the road.


Suddenly Naveen hears the scream and asks Sravanth to stop the car. Sravanth reduces the volume of the sound system and stops the car. The three of them look outside the window and they find everything to be normal.


"It must be your imagination Naveen! thats why I always warn you not to watch too many movies", it was Madhavs voice.

Naveen ignores Madhav's sarcastic tone and shows off his new cell phone......."Guys, check this baby out..its got even a video capture"

"Kool man, we can capture the sun setti......................................


Slowly the movie fades along with the dialogue and ends.

I was getting up when Natasha said," do you know the moral of this story?"

I was surprised and said, "No"

She said, "well the moral of the story is ..................don't be reckless, drive carefully, otherwise you will have to face the consequence!".