‘Manav,’ he smiled, ‘do you want me to answer that question, or, do you want to ask your fiancée? In fact, you can ask the guys here, in this unit, if you want to spare your sweetheart the trouble.’ Manav saw that half the unit had gathered close to the van. It seemed the unit was not surprised to see Mayank.
Manav turned around. Hiya stood right behind him. The colour had vanished from her face.
‘Manav, I can explain this...it’s not...it’s not how you think...‘ Hiya mumbled.
Mayank did not let her finish. ‘Really?’ he slurred as he walked towards the van in wobbly steps, ‘In that case, I’d like to know myself what you think this is!’ He glared at Hiya. ‘Just because your fiancé decides to make a surprise visit after ages, you don’t know me anymore? By the way, looks like this is your lucky day! Everyone is out to give you a surprise!’
Mayank pulled out a hip flask. He took a swig of the drink and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand. He tottered closer to the van and whispered conspiratorially, ‘Tell me, sweetheart, are you wearing that purple lace lingerie like you promised to me?’ He turned towards Manav and said, ‘Manav, remember her photoshoot for The Calcutta News tabloid last Saturday? She promised me she would wear the same purple lingerie the next time we met. Oh, maybe you don’t have the time for reading tabloids. ‘Coz if you did, this wouldn’t have come to you as a surprise. Those journos have been writing about us for weeks now.’ Mayank cracked up. He was clearly not in his senses. That was not the way he normally spoke with Manav.
Manav grabbed the neck of Mayank’s tee, his teeth clenched, his rippling muscles threatening to burst out of his shirt sleeves.
‘Take it easy, Manav,’ Mayank was unperturbed as he grabbed Manav’s wrists setting himself free, ‘Maybe she’s a wee bit too hot for you to handle.’ Mayank winked. That obscene laughter followed.
Manav shoved him away, his face contorted in disgust.
He turned towards Hiya. She was sobbing, her face hidden in her palms.
‘I’ve got all my answers, Hiya. I know what colour you are wearing today for your lover. You should have thought twice before showing it off to me!’ Manav grabbed her by the hair and brought his face menacingly close to hers. He said, ‘This is it! We’re over!’
As he stormed away, he could hear Mayank laughing like a maniac even as Hiya kept calling out Manav’s name between her sobs.
***
Manav opened his eyes, his fingers clutching the sheet of his hospital bed, sweat trickling down his face. The memories were disturbingly fresh and refused to stop chasing him. He was tired. He could not run any faster.
Chapter 24
In another part of the city at that very moment, Agni was wide awake inside his study. The Commissioner had called in the evening. He had wanted to meet Agni the next morning.
Agni finished his coffee in one long gulp and started going through the notes and voice recordings he had made over the last several days while talking to a number of individuals who had been close to Hiya Sen.
Balaram Sen, Hiya’s uncle
Burdwan
On Hiya’s career in the movies:
‘Sir, I struggle to make two ends meet. Yet, I never compromised on her education. She was a brilliant student. I thought she would take up a job and take care of the family. I have no idea how she was bitten by this bug. She did not want to complete her studies. She wanted to go away to Kolkata. I tried to reason with her. She was in no mood to listen and we fought every day. But she did run away eventually. She started modelling and within a few months, she started acting in movies. Made quite a name for herself! We saw her pictures in the newspapers, magazines, on the posters that were put up all over the town. No one in our family had ever been a public figure, Sir. And that too, so popular! There were long queues in front of the ticket counter when her movies released.
How did I feel? Well, one moment I felt proud. The next moment, I felt ashamed when I heard people say dirty things about the industry and about her. Some of the neighbours made obscene speculations about how she had made her way to the top so fast. But, Sir, I brought her up with my own hands! How could I bring myself to hate that girl? Also, I have to tell you this. She never forgot to send us money. Not a single month! She also visited us a couple of times. There was a stampede in front of our house the second time she came. I went to Kolkata once to meet her. She took me to the sets. A different world altogether! She looked happy. And that’s what mattered to me.’
On Hiya’s marriage to Manav Chauhan:
‘Sir, to be honest, I had never heard of him. Hiya called us and said she was getting married to a businessman. Her aunt wasn’t too happy about the fact that he wasn’t a Bengali. He was successful, wealthy and very popular in Kolkata. Well, it was her life. We didn’t have a say. We were happy that she was happy.
No, we couldn’t attend her wedding. Her aunt was not well, and I chose to stay with my wife. She called us in the morning. Said she would send a car to get us. But, we couldn’t make it.
No. Manav never had anything to do with us.’
On Hiya’s death:
‘Sir, I read about it in the papers. The news came on television. No one from that family bothered to call us and inform! We were shattered. Her aunt fell ill. For two days, she couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t even go to Kolkata to see my little girl, as I had to be with my wife. The neighbours wouldn’t let us mourn in peace with all kinds of filthy gossip.
I heard they had beaten up Manav badly. You’ve arrested three boys, have you? I read in the papers. Sir, can you please tell me what exactly happened? I’m so confused. And I don’t want to call her in-laws.’
Surinder Chauhan with his wife in attendance
Kolkata
‘Why is the police bothering us again? I’ve already given my statement!
You are exploring fresh angles to the incident? What’s there to explore? This city is becoming increasingly unsafe with every passing day! There’s complete breakdown of law and order! Go out on the streets and do something concrete instead of wasting your time sitting here in my air-conditioned room and talking and talking!’
On whether he wants justice for Hiya:
‘Let me be very honest with you, ACP. All that I want right now is to have my son back home—hale and hearty. My boy has an empire to run!
This is the misfortune that girl brought on our family! I’ve no idea what had come over Manav. He would have been very happy with Neha. What a nice girl!’
On what he felt about Hiya:
‘What can I say about Hiya? It was her business to seduce the audience in provocative dresses and tasteless dance moves. This was inevitable! I had always warned Manav that he should stay away from girls of Hiya’s type!’
On his son’s future:
‘I had given my word to Deepak, but Manav didn’t bother to respect it! He ended up paying a heavy price. Neha visits him every day in the hospital and takes care of him, in spite of what he did to her. I hope and pray that my son realises his mistake and the two of them get together. That would make everyone happy. It feels like the curse on our family has finally been lifted!’
Aniruddha Goswami, Director
Kolkata
On his movie with Hiya and Rituja:
‘That movie is very close to my heart, ACP. It is about sibling rivalry—two sisters who compete with each other for everything all through their lives, finally falling in love with the same man. They would stop at nothing to get what they want, even if it means they go down the path of self-destruction.’
On the unique casting:
‘The casting is the USP of my movie. Everyone knows that Hiya did not share a great rapport with Rituja. The rift between them was mainly due to professional reasons. I thought that their real-life rivalry would get translated into outstanding performances on screen with each one of them trying her best to outdo the other.
No. The movie is not shelved. I am making changes to the script to accommodat
e the unfortunate circumstances. But, I will complete this movie at any cost.’
On what the movie meant for Rituja:
‘The movie is extremely important for Rituja. As you may be aware, she hasn’t exactly been very successful in the recent past. But, look at her career spanning more than a decade. She has given us so many memorable movies. This is just a bad phase—happens with the greatest of performers. She will bounce back with my movie!’
On the conflict between his heroines:
‘Well, the two heroines had their differences, and I was aware of what I was getting into when I cast them. While my intention was to play on those differences to extract their best on-screen performances, it was getting difficult handling their off-screen clashes.’
On the ugly fight between Hiya and Rituja on the sets:
‘Yes, we did have a nasty scene on the sets one day. It got widely reported. We had called over a few reporters to cover the shoot. It was an important sequence in the movie, which involved both the heroines. The idea was to get some media coverage with photos from the sets. What happened instead was outrageous!’
On Hiya’s reaction:
‘Hiya did complain to me about Rituja. Said she wouldn’t be able to continue working in the movie with her. Suggested I should look for another senior actress who did not hold a grudge against her because of her successes. I told her I would consider her suggestion. In any case, she was going on a long break for her wedding. I thought by the time she came back, things would have cooled off and both the actresses would have come round.’
On Rituja’s reaction:
‘Did I tell Rituja? I did, actually. I told her to control her temper. I told her there were differences between her style of working and that of the new crop of artistes. I also made a subtle mention of the fact that her chips were down at the moment, and my movie meant everything to her. Having Hiya in the movie would, in fact, guarantee a good opening at the box office.
No, I don’t think she was too happy. I’ve known Rituja for years. She has always been used to having her way on a movie set. And she refuses to accept the fact that, times have changed. That newer actors have moved far ahead. She fumed and fretted for days!’
On his experience of working with Hiya:
‘Well, I’ll be very candid with you, ACP. Especially because this has to do with a police investigation. I found Hiya’s behaviour in the days leading to her marriage rather odd.
Come to think of it. She was a girl who came from nowhere and scaled enviable heights of fame in almost no time. She was among the most coveted actors in the industry. The audience loved her. She hadn’t tasted failure anytime in the recent past. In this movie, she had the opportunity to prove her acting chops in a face-off with one of the most famous actresses of our industry. On the personal front, she was engaged to one of the most desirable bachelors in town.
I had expected her to be bubbling with energy, with enthusiasm. Instead, all through the shoot, she was just the opposite. It seemed she had completely lost interest in her work. That’s what Rituja interpreted as her lack of professionalism. She was never on time. She called in sick rather frequently. She forgot her lines. She frequently went blank during narrations. She looked exhausted. She was depressed. I had no clue what was wrong with her. But, there was definitely something gnawing away inside her.
Yes, I did hear there was a spat involving her between Manav and the guy she had started dating weeks before her wedding. I thought that was weird! Don’t you think so? Why did she get into that fling? We’d never know I guess.’
Avik Sinha, Hiya’s Secretary
Kolkata
On Hiya’s behaviour in the days leading to her wedding:
‘To tell you the truth, Sir, she was not her usual self. I had no idea what had come over her. She kept cancelling shoots and refused to take calls. The producers were after me. She would be in a foul mood most of the time. We fought a few times. I was trying to make her see sense. I couldn’t help wonder at times if success had gone to her head. Have seen that happen to some of the big names in the industry. But, I did figure out that it was something else.’
On Hiya’s rumoured affair with Mayank:
‘Well, there was truth in that rumour, Sir. She started hanging out with him with just a few weeks to go before her wedding. I wasn’t happy about it. The media didn’t take kindly to the affair either. I felt she was toying with her own life. She was clearly going through an emotional turmoil. At times, she was happy. Especially when she was with Mayank. And there were times, when she was depressed and aloof. She was confused. I didn’t see much of Mr. Chauhan around her during that phase, either. I thought that was strange! And that fight on the sets between Mr. Chauhan and Mayank did not help! She got a lot of bad press.
Well, I guess she sorted herself out at the end. We were very happy when she came round and married Mr. Chauhan.’
Chapter 25
The Commissioner was lost in thought, his fingers anxiously tapping on the table, his forehead creased. Agni had finished reporting his findings and his theories a while back. Arya had his eyes fixed on the Commissioner.
He finally looked up.
‘Guys, I appreciate your hard work. Must say you’ve covered a lot of ground in very short time. But, pardon my saying this, the case now looks more complicated!’
‘It does, Sir. If those three men were indeed hired for the job, which I personally feel is what transpired in reality, we now know a number of persons, who either had very strong motives for the crime, or, stood to benefit from the death of Hiya Sen.’
‘I agree.’ The Commissioner left his chair and walked up to the window that opened to an uncharacteristically grey autumn sky outside. ‘But these are still theories, Agni.’
‘I don’t deny that. And our investigation will hit a roadblock unless we can catch hold of Asif Bhai, who picked up the contract. Or, gather more substantial evidence to back up any of our theories for it to be admissible in the court.’
‘And we’ve seen no progress there.’ The Commissioner walked back to his desk. ‘No one has a clue yet about Asif’s whereabouts! I’ve been following up with Interpol regularly. And most of what you just narrated are logical conclusions—very plausible, but we will need more concrete evidence to support any of those conclusions.’
‘Sir, prosecution will be asked to produce evidence in support of the theory of contract killing,’ Arya reminded the Commissioner.
‘Yes, I know! But we don’t have anything on our hands at the moment!’ The helplessness in the Commissioner’s voice was not lost on the others in the room. ‘One hell of a situation!’ he continued. ‘In the present scenario, we will need to underplay the suggestion of this being a paid job. We will look like a bunch of idiots if we hold up that theory and then, cannot trace the origin of the money trail. It serves us better to stick to the theory of this being an impulsive act of retaliation by those three anti-socials.’
Agni did not reply. There were theories that crowded his disquieted mind, even as a sense of despair at the stalemate gnawed away at his heart.
He picked up the day’s newspaper and scanned the front page. The world had got busy with newer acts of decadence. There was no dearth of violence to accompany our morning tea. In a matter of days, Hiya Sen’s death had been relegated to an inconspicuous corner of the fifth page.
Chapter 26
Two months later
Lakhan Sahu stepped gingerly out of a run-down shanty inside one of the slums in Tiljala.
The abject poverty of slum dwellers in Tiljala formed a sharp contrast with the luxurious lifestyle of occupants of the skyscrapers that had come up in the neighbourhood. Most of the slum dwellers were employed in the tanneries in the area. They had been joined back in the day by a refugee population from the neighbouring Bangladesh. The slums today formed a virtual haven for an increasingly large number of nefarious elements in the city.
Lakhan had moved out with his family to a rented house in the
neighbourhood from one of the slums in the area a couple of months back, after his release from the hospital. However, he still had friends in the slum, and would drop by every Saturday night to indulge his addiction to cheap country liquor.
Tonight he chose to overstep his self-imposed limits on how much he would usually drink. He had reason to celebrate.
As he tottered down a narrow lane cutting through the ramshackle houses on both sides, the chill in the air made him shiver. He wrapped his worn-out shawl tightly around his sparse frame, and supported himself by reaching out to a nearby wall. The cold silence of the night was interrupted only by the occasional shrieks of hungry infants inside the shacks, or the prolonged mournful wails of street dogs.
As Lakhan turned round the bend of an alley, the hooded figure stepped out of the shadows. It moved in brisk silent steps behind Lakhan as he hummed an undecipherable tune, walking in unsure steps, his hands perpetually looking for support. The world around him was a blur.
By the time Lakhan realised he had company on those sleepy alleys, there was a strong arm around his neck and the warm breath of his aggressor fanned the back of his head. With his free hand, the assailant pulled out a knife tucked into the waist of his trousers at the small of his back. Lakhan opened his mouth trying to breathe but the man had cut off the supply of air to his lungs with Lakhan’s neck firmly in his grip. The sharp edge of the knife glistened ominously in front of Lakhan’s protruding eyes as he flailed his arms helplessly, his muffled throaty cries lost in the racket made by a pack of dogs fighting over leftovers in a nearby garbage bin.
Their cacophony reached a crescendo even as the cold steel blade of the knife made a swift, terminal slit across Lakhan’s neck. Within seconds, the blood started spurting out and Lakhan dropped to the ground, writhing in agony.
The man waited as long as the spasms swept through Lakhan’s sparse frame.
When he was finally convinced that the body sprawled on the ground at his feet showed no sign of life, the man tucked the knife back into the small of his waist and started walking in the direction of the highway.
The Colours of Passion Page 8