the bet - screenplay

7/30/2019 The Bet - Screenplay

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Screenplay

By

AMIT THAKER

Based on a short essayTHE BET by ANTON CHEKOV

[email protected]


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INT. DIMLY LIT LIVING ROOM - ANANDS APT. - NIGHT

Crickets chirping in background.

We see a back silhouette of ANAND walk toward a desk. Weclose in on the desk to see his right hand wearing a gem

studded gold bracelet, indicating affluence, open a drawer.We see the hand rummaging through the drawer. Whileeverything else in the drawer looks awry there is a package,neatly wrapped in newspaper and sealed with cellophane tape,sitting conspicuously on the right of the drawer. The handignores that package while searching. The search yields inthe hand finding what seems like a set of remote lockenabled car keys and picks them up, it hovers on thenewspaper wrapped package and after some deliberation picksup the package too. We pull back to the back silhouette ofAnand as he starts heading toward a door. We follow hissilhouette till he reaches a door and opens to exit it.

FADE OUT

OS - Remote car lock system sound. Beep. Indicatingunlocking of car door.

FADE IN

INT. ANANDS CAR - FRONT PASSENGER SEAT POV - NIGHT

We see the front silhouette of ANAND, against dim ambient /street light, approach us through the window on the driverseat. He reaches the door, opens it and gets in the drivers

seat. The open door triggers the interior lights on. We seeANANDS face, in left profile, old and anxious, time andexperiences have made this face. He is in his early 50s.Beads of sweat have formed on this face. We hear the cardoor being shut as the interior lights go off.

OS - Sound of glove compartment open.

We pan to the glove compartment and see ANANDS left handput the newspaper package in and close the glovecompartment. We pan back to ANANDS left profile.

OS - Sound of car key turning in key slot. Control consolelights up.

We can partially see ANANDS face, dimly illuminated by thedashboard controls lights. Even in this dim light we cansee his eyes lost in deep thought.

OS - Sound of rustling of cigarette packet.

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 2.

ANAND places a cigarette in his lips. His eyes close inprofound introspection, head tilts back on the head rest ashe lightly clutches his hair with his right hand.

ANAND -(VO)(playing with cigarette in

lips)Sab khatam ho jayega. Kyu lagaee yefizul ki sharth. Yaad bhi nahi haikis manhoos ghadi mein ye faislahuaa. Shayaad sharaab ka nasha thaya jawani ka ya phir raheesi kiandhi aiyashi.

(shaking head indisappointment)

FADE OUT

OS - Sound of car starting and moving away from us.

FADE IN

INT. LIVING ROOM - ANANDS APT. - LATE EVENING

Superimpose : THREE DAYS SHORT OF 15 YEARS AGO

There is a get together going on and Anand is seated at alounge/sofa with a group of men. They seem to be discussingsomething very intently. We approach toward the sofa. Thereis some light music playing in the background.

MAN 1Aise politician ko to faasi de denichahiye.

MAN 2Faasi dene se kuch nahi hoga. Heshould get a life term. He shouldsuffer for all he has done.

MAN 1Arre, first of all, woh pohoch lagake nikal jayega aur suffer kyakarna, he is a politician yaar. AC,chicken, mutton, scotch, ladki sabmilega. Even if he is a normal guy,life term se koi sudharta nahi hai,just kill them off yaar. Tum apneghar ka kachra bahar phekte ho kiwashing machine mein daal karsudhaarte ho.

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 3.

Anand, nods in approval as he plays with a cigarette in hislips.

MAN 2Kill them off? What about humanrights, arre what kind of a

punishment is that. insaaniyat naamki cheez bhi hoti hai ek democraticjudiciary mein.

Man 1 tries to say something as Anand interrupts

ANAND(putting down his drink andstubbing out the Cigarrette)

Mere khayal se both are equallybad. Lekin my personal preferenceis death penalty, chat mangni patbyah type(chuckles). Life term mein

toh insaan ghut ghut ke marjaayega, it kills your essence, thewill to live. Tum chup ho Vivek,what do you think? You certainlymust have an opinion on this.

Vivek, a younger man (mid 20s), has been standing away fromthe group and quietly listening to this conversation. Hejoins the group now after being asked the question. He putshis glass on the center table and settles in.

VIVEKHmmmm. I agree that both

punishments are immoral. Lekin,mere hisaab se life imprisonment ismore humane. Us mein ek umeed tohhoti hai, life khatam to nahi hojati. I prefer life imprisonmentover death penalty anyday.

MAN 1Arre yaar ye sab bolne ki baat hai,andheri kothri mein jab 10 dinguzaarne padenge to sab philosophybhool jaaoge Vivek bhai. Did youknow if prisoners were notmonitored, most of them who weresentenced with life terms wouldrather kill themselves. Ironical,isnt it?

VIVEKNot all prisoners would killthemselves. There are stories of ex

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 4.

VIVEK (contd)

prisoners coming back into societyand starting life again. Umeed sehi zindagi banti hai. Aur main koicheez aise hi nahi bolta hu, Ipersonally would prefer a life term

over death penalty. Of course it isan hypothetical situation.

ANAND(in a cocky tone, kind ofmocking)

Toh let us make it un-hypothetical.Main 2 crore ki shart lagata hutumhare saath, tum 5 saal bhi nahitik paoge.

Vivek is startled as are all the others present there.

VIVEK(in a slightly apprehensivemanner)

What do you mean Anand sir? Youwill pay me to go to prison? Mainsamjha nahin.

ANANDChod yaar, tere bas ki baat nahihai, nevermind. Do char drink peekedinge marna bohot aasan hota hai.

VIVEK(slightly offended)

Nahi, aap samjhao to sahi, maingenuinely aapke bolne ka matlab hinahi samjha.

ANAND(hesitantly)

Acha to sun, I have a bunglow inmud island. Main kabhi kabhiweekend getaway ke liye use kartahu. Us bunglow ke ek room mein tu 5saal nikal mein tujhe 2 crore

doonga. And I m dead serious.

Vivek is involved in a deep thought process, the prize moneyis hard to ignore.

ANAND(smirking)

See? Maine bola tha na, bolne aurkarne mein bohot fark hota hai.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 6.

ANAND (contd)hai jab tum hafte bhar main baharaa jaaoge.

VIVEKWe shall see.

ANAND(regains composure)

Acha shart lag hi gai hai to rulesbhi sun lo. Tumhe kitab, khana,peena, cigarette yeh sab cheeze miljayegi. Jo tumhari request ho,chitthi par likh kar darwaaze keniche se sarka dena. Udhar ekwatchman-caretaker rehta hai, wohmujhe pass on kar dega and i ll getyou what you want, provided it isreasonable. Agreed?

VIVEKYes.

ANAND(after some thought)

Arre, kal se nahi tum parso seudhar jaaoge.

VIVEKKyun Anand sir?

ANAND

I have to get the door made in sucha way that tumhe cheezein dene kewaqt, darwaza kholna na pade. Youare not to have any human contact,remember? Aur toilet, bathroom toroom main attached hi hain. Tohtumhare 15 saal parso se countkarenge, 12 midnight to 12midnight, clear?

VIVEKJi.

FADE OUT

OS- Sound of car coming to a halt. (please try not to usescreeching tyres)

FADE IN


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7.

INT. ANANDS CAR - NIGHT

Night Sounds.

Through Anands POV we can see a lit window in the bunglowin the near distance. Anand is nervously tapping his fingers

on the steering wheel with one hand and holding a cigarettein the other.

ANAND (VO)(in a frustrated tone)

Itne raat ko yeh kya kar raha hai?Haan, Soch raha hoga ke kal betcomplete karke mere paise se apnizindagi kaise savaarega. Excitementmein neend bhi nahi aati hogi.

Anand lights the cigarette. Takes a deep drag as hesimultaneously closes his eyes in deep thought.

ANAND (VO)(in a tone of disbelief /surprise)

15 saal? Kal raat ke barah baje 15saal pure ho jayenge. How can aperson live in confinement for 15years?

Anand rubs his brows, as if to indicate a headache.

ANAND (VO)Pehle kuch saal toh...aiyashi ke

samaan se kaam nikala.

A montage shot of liqour, cigarettes, adult magazines,romantic novels, thriller novels etc.. being delivered tothe bunglows doorstep.

ANAND (VO)(admiring)

Bande ne pehle teen saal nashe meinhi guzaare the. Lekin uske baad eksaal tak koi guzaarish hi nahi aatithi, tab lagaa tha ki woh sharthaar jayega. Lekin main galat tha,then he wanted to learn.

Montage shot of language, science books (world book / natgeo magazines) art supplies being delivered to the bunglowsto the doorstep.

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 8.

ANAND (VO)(sadly)

Woh seekthe gaya aur mein stockmarket mein paise lootate gaya.(irritated laugh). (in a mockingtone)Ab peechle kuch saal se toh

dharmic ban gaye hai bhai sahab,gita, bible, qoran sab zabani yaadho gaya hoga. Aur kal jab baharniklenge, bet jeet kar, mujhethanks bolega aur apni nayi zindagimere paiso se shuru karega.

Anand shakes his head and puts his head down on the steeringwheel

ANAND (VO)(urgent and nervous tone)

Is se bachne ka ek hi raasta hai,

he must die before the bet is over.Us ko 15 saal jab kisine miss nahikiya toh, i dont think they willmiss him anymore. He must die.

Anand opens the glove compartment and removes the newspaperpackage. He has been observing the bunglows foreground fora while now.

ANAND (VO)Watchman lagta hai so gaya hai,this is the right time.

JUMP CUT / DISSOLVE SHOTS

Anand gets out of the car with the package walks toward thebunglow.

Anand enters the bunglow door.

Anand climbs the stairs to the room and opens it.

INT. BUNGLOWS STUDY - NIGHT

Sound of fan and ticking clock.

Anand is about to unwrap the newspaper package as he noticesVivek slumped on a desk. Near him is a note under a paperweight.

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 9.

ANAND (VO)(curiosly)

Dekhein to sahi kya likh raha tha,must be a list of things he wantsto buy with my money.

Anand places the package on the desk and removes the notefrom under the paper weight and starts reading it.

ANAND (VO)( END DIALOGUE )

the bet - screenplay

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