Disha

INT. ANURADHA'S HOUSE - EVENING The story begins with a setup of a birthday party at a house of an 18-year-old girl named Anuradha and a PARTY SONG. Anuradha's house is big and has a huge hall, which is decorated beautifully with balloons & streamers. The hall is buzzing with people as there is a party going on and most of the people present are teenagers from Anuradha's college. The music is playing loud. Food is flowing generously among the guests. About 8 - 10 people have formed a dance floor at one corner of the hall. Megha is busy being a good host and making sure all the people present are having a good time. MEGHA I hope you are having fun. Thank you for coming to the party. GUEST 1 Thank you. This party is rocking. Anu’s birthday parties are always great fun. GUEST 2 Anu turns 18 today. She must be really excited. MEGHA Sure, but for us Anu will always be a kid. Anyway, have fun. Anuradha's friends Shilpa and Namita walk in together. She sees them at the door and walks up to them. She seems upset. ANURADHA You both should be ashamed of yourselves. You are my best friends and yet so late? NAMITA I am sorry. It was my fault. Shilpa was at my place well in time but it was I who was not ready. SHILPA Hey, let it go. We are here after all. Happy Birthday! So, what are your plans now that you are 18? ANURADHA Hmmm. I don't know. Maybe it is time to get a boyfriend, right? What say? SHILPA Yes, that’s a great idea. Let’s look around here. Are there any interesting people here? Maybe each one of us will find one. NAMITA You both are hopeless. Come on, let’s party. The three girls mingle with the guests and revel with the music. Namita finds a place on one of the sofas and takes a seat. Jayant walks up to Namita holding a glass of punch in each hand. Namita looks up at him. JAYANT Hi, Namita. How are you? It’s good to see you. Would you like some punch? NAMITA Hi Jayant. Thanks. Namita takes a glass from him. JAYANT May I sit here? NAMITA Sure. Please be my guest. Namita smiles sheepishly. TITLE: SIX MONTHS LATER INT. ST. ANNE'S COLLEGE CANTEEN FOYER - AFTERNOON There is a large crowd at the center of the canteen. People are whispering but because of the multitude of the crowd the noise is loud. The vice-principal of the college walks through the crowd to its center where he finds Namita lying on the floor unconscious while her friends, Shilpa & Anuradha are rubbing her hands and feet trying to revive her. VICE PRINCIPAL What’s going on here? Why is this girl on the ground? What happened? Shilpa & Anuradha do not reply but instead continue desperately trying to revive their friend. The vice-principal looks around at the crowd. Nobody responds. Instead everybody just walks away with a few shrugging his or her shoulders. VICE PRINCIPAL Will someone speak up, please? Why is this girl unconscious? Namita slowly opens her eyes and sees her friends & the vice-principal standing on top of her staring at her. She quickly sits up. VICE PRINCIPAL My child, are you okay? What happened? NAMITA I am ok, sir. Everything is fine. I will be fine. VICE PRINCIPAL Would you like to meet the doctor in the college? NAMITA (rather hurriedly) No no, I am fine. VICE PRINCIPAL Are you sure? Namita smiles and nods her head. The vice-principal accepts and walks off. SHILPA Why don’t you want to meet with the doctor? You fainted. That's not good. NAMITA It’s okay. I am fine. Let’s go. I need to reach home quickly. Mom has to go somewhere and she said I would need to make my dinner all on my own. Anuradha & Shilpa shake their head in disbelief and decide to let it go. INT. NAMITA'S HOUSE - KITCHEN CUM LIVING ROOM - LATER Namita is sitting in the kitchen cutting some vegetables. Her mother, Shanti, walks into the kitchen all dressed up in a beautiful saree. She walks up to Namita and kisses her on the forehead. SHANTI Would you be able to manage on your own? Why don’t you call Anu and Shilpa? They could help you. NAMITA Don’t worry about me. Go, have a good time at the party. SHANTI If your father were alive today he would have been very happy seeing us. We are really taking good care of each other. NAMITA I know. I am proud of you too, Mom. Shanti picks the house & car keys from the key stand, waves goodbye to Namita and walks out of the main door. Namita finishes cooking her dinner. She puts it on a plate and takes it to the living room area. She turns on the TV to a channel that is playing English movies. As she watches the movie, she starts crying at an emotional scene. EXT. PARK HOTEL SWIMMING POOL SIDE - NIGHT There is a beautiful decor set up for a party. Shanti, who is the party planner, is busy making sure that all the loose ends are tied up. The hosts of the party, Mr. & Mrs. Mehta and their daughter Ananya enter the venue. Shanti sees them and walks up to them. Ananya walks ahead of her parents. SHANTI Did you like all the arrangements? I hope you’re happy. ANANYA It’s brilliant. Anuradha has helped me a lot by recommending you to us. You know what? Would you be able to handle the arrangements for my marriage as well? SHANTI Sure, Ms. Mehta. ANANYA Call me Ananya please, aunty. I am like your daughter. Shanti smiles and excuses herself to check up on a few things. She walks up to the DJ who is busy setting up his console. SHANTI Hey, start the music quickly. The guests have started arriving. The DJ nods his head and hurries up. Shanti looks around and sees that quite a few guests have arrived. She picks up the mike next to the sound system. SHANTI Ladies & Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all to Mr. & Mrs. Mehta's Silver Wedding Jubilee. I would like to thank their daughter Ananya for giving me the opportunity to plan this evening for them. Congratulations!!! Shanti raises a glass of punch she is holding in her hand as a toast to the happy couple. INT. 10X10 FT ROOM – LATER There is an empty 10x10 feet room with no furniture. The walls are colored in shades of grey and there is pin drop silence. The room has no windows or doors. There is just one single bulb hanging from the ceiling and it is on. At one corner of the room Namita is standing trembling profusely. At first she is holding her body tight looking completely helpless. Suddenly she starts screaming on top of her voice. NAMITA Help! Help! Is anybody there?!! Save me. Get me out of here. Please! But there is no one listening to her. She starts banging on the walls like a mad person but nobody seems to come to her rescue. INT. NAMITA'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM AREA Shanti opens the main door with her key. She sees that Namita is lying on the sofa screaming aloud and sweating profusely but she is in her sleep. Shanti tries to wake her up. SHANTI Namita, my child, wake up! You are having a nightmare. Wake up!! Namita wakes up and jumps into her mother's arms. She starts crying loudly. Shanti is very confused and doesn't know what to do. She just holds her daughter tight. SHANTI Namita, are you ok?! Why are you crying?!! What happened?!!! Namita holds her mother tighter and continues to bawl. Shanti decides to stay quiet and just holds her tight. INT. NAMITA'S DINING ROOM - NEXT MORNING Shanti is in the kitchen fixing breakfast for herself and packing Namita's lunch. Namita walks in looking very bright and chirpy. She is whistling a tune as well. Shanti looks at her with a surprised and curious expression. SHANTI (in her mind) Namita was in such a terrible shape yesterday and look at her today! What is going on with her!! NAMITA Bye Mommy. I need to leave early today. The first class is at 8am. Can't miss it. SHANTI Are you okay now, my child? NAMITA Sure Mom. Absolutely. Bye. Namita picks up her lunch box, puts it in her purse and leaves the room. EXT. NAMITA'S BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER Namita walks up to her scooty that is parked in the building compound. She places her purse in the luggage boot. As she is about to start the scooty her mo