Jump Cut

by Krishna Shastri

  Class VB

  Rough Notebook

  He was just about the only guy in the world who would cover and label a rough notebook. Padmini opened it.

  I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared. I will always be prepared…

  From first page to last.

  She closed the book and handed it back to him. The sound of humans outside signalled that the rain had stopped.

  ‘I should be going,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, your car is beginning to look impatient,’ he said.

  ‘Don’t do it, Ray.’

  ‘Too late for that.’

  She bent to pick up her raincoat and the Lab gave her a quick one on the face. Dogs could do that. Love unconditionally, share without getting their hearts broken, and kiss at will.

  ‘Go back,’ she said.

  ‘Nothing I do is ever right, is it?’

  ‘I don’t even know what I came for.’

  She walked out, got into the car without once turning back. Ray caught a glimpse of the driver through the dripping glass as they left. Now all he had of her was the puddle her raincoat had left behind next to the sofa.

  ~

  ‘Want to tell me what that was about?’

  ‘Not really,’ Padmini said.

  With the rain letting up, like white ants crawling out of woodwork, the petrified traffic had come back on to the roads full strength. Vinay gave three short blasts to the auto in front of his car.

  ‘That’s most unlike you.’

  Vinay shrugged. ‘All of us can’t behave in exactly the same way all the time, can we, Paddu?’

  She wasn’t Mini to him like she was to her other friends. She hadn’t realized she hated ‘Paddu’ till then.

  ‘If you must know, I’ll tell you … but it’s quite boring,’ she said.

  ‘Hey, no one’s forcing you,’ he said.

  ‘Ray is an old friend. He’s doing something stupid. It can jeopardize his whole life. Wanted to knock some sense into him.’

  ‘You should let people do what they want. Nobody listens anyway.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Meaning, say, had I asked you not to waste your time going out in this crazy rain to stop some idiot from going to his own funeral, would you have listened?’

  Padmini thought of the time Ray had left for the US. She remembered his battered red VIP held together by a nylon clothesline. The boy who would always be prepared.

  ‘He’s not an idiot,’ she said.

  28

  ‘So what do you think?’ Rajarajan said.

  Ananth Sundaresan read the last bit about Google Films on Rajarajan’s laptop and picked up his drink. So that was what he had been up to, busy striking an international deal. It wasn’t like him to skip their joint exercise routine while in Chennai.

  ‘Sounds great. Hollywood, eh? Guess this is the last contract of yours I’ll be going over,’ he said.

  ‘C’mon,’ said Rajarajan. He gave his lawyer-cum-exercise buddy-cum-partner-in-crime a whack on his shoulder.

  ‘So … this means you’ll be moving to LA?’

  ‘Too soon to tell. I’ll do a recce first.’

  The lawyer looked at the draft agreement that had been drawn up by Google Films. They were offering RR an astronomical sum of money, complete creative control and a choice of fifteen scripts to pick from for his international debut as movie director. And the roster of stars they had deals with read like the ‘who’s who’ of Hollywood. Tom Cruise, Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lopez, RR’s wet dream girl for years.

  ‘JLo, you’ve got to be kidding me,’ Ananth said.

  RR made like he was holding the singer-actress’ most celebrated asset with both his hands and rocked his pelvis vigorously. His tongue was stuck out and he had a faraway look in his eyes, just in case his friend didn’t get it.

  ‘So, when are you going?’

  ‘Just as soon as I come.’

  The film-maker pounded away, his hips a foot away from his table while his hands continued to virtually grip for dear life the most googled behind in history.

  Like a couple of randy twelve-year-olds, the friends burst out laughing and gave each other a high-five.

  ‘By the way, maybe Shruti should tag along with me to the US,’ Rajarajan said. He had been waiting to slip that in. ‘Will be good exposure for her.’

  ‘You think so? I don’t know…’

  ‘Why?’

  The vulgar grin of a second ago was gone. The lawyer had morphed from horny co-conspirator to concerned father.

  ‘I don’t know … she’s just not been herself lately,’ he said. ‘Have you noticed any change in her?’

  Rajarajan shook his head. He was glad that people, as yet, couldn’t click into a person’s head and browse recent history like they could on the web. He made a note to deal with her. The young fool could ruin everything if she let on to Ananth.

  ‘What is the matter?’

  ‘You know what a cheerful girl she is, right? For the last month or so she’s just been mostly locked up in her room. Having her meals alone and not talking to me or her mother. Most unlike her. I’m wondering if it’s to do with some guy. Seriously, if anyone’s been messing around with my baby, I’ll cut his balls off…’ said Ananth.

  Rajarajan felt a jolt of phantom pain in his groin.

  ‘Easy, easy, da,’ he said.

  ‘Why don’t you talk to her? You’re pretty much her second father,’ Ananth said.

  Rajarajan nodded, trying to mentally list the unfatherly things he had done to Shruti.

  ~

  ‘The potti kadai fellow’s story about a turbaned Chinese man was more believable than your friend’s efforts, saar,’ said Selva. ‘I told you right in the beginning he wouldn’t do.’

  Abie began counting to a hundred very slowly in his head.

  ‘Madam, on the other hand, super.’ Selva extended a hand to Sumi which she shook.

  Selva, Abie, Sumi, himself – with Dog Raj under the sofa mauling Kriti’s discarded soft toy. Ray scanned the room and pictured all five wearing horizontal striped jail suits like the ones the Beagle Boys wore.

  ‘Congratulations can wait, Selva. I have this whole US thing to deal with now,’ said Ray.

  ‘You’re not seriously considering taking the guy to LA, are you?’ Abie said.

  ‘What choice do I have? That’s what he wants.’

  ‘All your fault, Abie saar,’ said Selva. ‘You should’ve just let madam do the talking. Everything would have been fine.’

  ‘Ray, please request your pal here to desist from pushing me.’

  ‘What’s wrong with what he’s saying? You were the one who brought in private jets and mega budgets instead of sticking to the script,’ Sumi said.

  Abie stared at the ceiling.

  ‘See my life, da. I’m being chastised by this … this … movie fellow in my own house. And my wife agrees with him. For not being a good enough conman. I wasn’t trained for this, you know. What’s the world coming to?’

  ‘Hey, guys, guys!’ Ray said.

  The room fell silent and Dog Raj peeped out from under the sofa. He went back to savaging the toy as soon as he realized he wasn’t the one being yelled at.

  ‘Listen, listen, all this. It’s not Abie’s or Selva’s fault. It’s mine. My insane plan, my stupid fault,’ said Ray. ‘Anyway, I’ve started work on Rajarajan’s US trip. Things need to be fine-tuned, that’s all.’

  Abie made a watch-it sign to Selva with his forefinger. Sumi did the same to Abie.

  ‘See, there’s this company in LA called Gotcha Inc., ever heard of it? They set up elaborate hoaxes for birthdays, TV shows etc – like that Ashton Kutcher show, Punk’d. I’ve spoken to them. I’ve given them the scenario. They are willing to do everything. Get someone to play the CEO, Marty Schulberg, an office that’ll be set up as Google Films,
staff, a fake shooting site, the works,’ Ray said.

  ‘Shit, seriously, you can do that?’ said Abie. ‘What about legal repercussions and stuff? I mean, how do they get away?’

  ‘Essentially, these guys arrange elaborate party tricks for the idle rich. They aren’t in it to con anyone out of money. It’s a legit business. They cover their asses by letting on about the hoax pretty nearly immediately to the “victim”. And it’s all televised. The client’s request, the hoax itself and pretty much everything else. So, it’s all above board, as far as they’re concerned at least. In a sense, I’ll be conning them as well. But I’ll deal with that later,’ said Ray.

  ‘How much is it going to cost you?’ said Sumi.

  Ray smiled away her question.

  ‘Seriously, how much? This, the air tickets, all of it,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, about a hundred thousand,’ he said.

  ‘Dollars?’ said Abie.

  ‘Obviously, you idiot,’ said Sumi.

  Selva made the dollar to rupee conversion mentally and totalled it up to a Tamil cuss word.

  ‘Do you have that kind of money?’ she said.

  ‘I have savings. Then I have my share of the house.’

  ‘Bullshit. You’re not going to blow your savings on this. And your family home? Over my dead body,’ she said.

  Ray shrugged.

  ‘We’ll chip in,’ she said.

  Selva extended his hand to Sumi. Sumi shook it. Abie looked like he was about to be hit by a bus.

  Ray got up and kissed Sumi on her head. She encircled his waist with her arms.

  ‘Wouldn’t dream of it but thanks for the offer,’ he said.

  ‘Get a room,’ said Abie under his breath.

  ~

  Shruti wiped the vomit off her chin. What she was producing was pretty much plain water now. She had stopped counting after the third time that morning. She was pregnant, of that there was no doubt. Three pregnancy test kits of three different makes couldn’t be wrong.

  But this wasn’t morning sickness.

  Ever since she had seen the DVD on her laptop, it was as if her stomach had decided to get rid of all there was other than the old her.

  It wasn’t like she hadn’t known what she was doing. He was forty-five, if he was a day. He was her father’s friend. He wasn’t reputed to be the straightest guy in the universe. She had known all that. She had got into it with her eyes and everything else fully open. She had seen stuff in her life. She had never been squeamish.

  But the DVD? Watching a young girl, much like herself, being ravaged by Rajarajan in ways that she had become aware of, and tried with barely concealed horror, only in the last few months, on the same sheets she had lain on not so long ago, in the same bathroom she had showered in so often?

  And the manner in which she had found the DVD.

  It was almost like he had wanted it discovered. RR had asked her to pick up the synopsis of a film from his cupboard and the DVD had fallen out from between its pages. It had looked innocuous enough. The name ‘Aaliya’, written on it in black marker, made her think it was an Iranian film. Once she had pressed play, it was like her eyes had been locked in like a rabbit’s by a torchlight. And an hour later, one that would be branded in her head forever, the puking had begun.

  She looked into her father’s room. He was huddled over a file, a forgotten cup of coffee by his side. She realized this was the first time she was seeking him out since it had all begun.

  29

  White women in dark glasses were everywhere in the café. Taking in the Chennai sun filtered through sunblock and talking at decibel levels that would have drawn shushes in their own countries. Sumi aka Mona Mathai took a sip of the café’s signature ginger nectar and hoped her Oakleys hid her uncertainty. She had gone AWOL in a sense, ignoring Ray and Abie’s warnings and insisting on seeing Rajarajan alone.

  ‘You’ll only be an impediment,’ she had said, as Abie had done a dead-on imitation of Dog Raj’s reaction to a rolled-up newspaper.

  Rajarajan, sitting far too close for comfort, tugged at a piece of dried-up skin on his lower lip and stared at her. Sumi chanted the names of Arjuna in her head.

  Arjuna–Phalguna–Kiriti–Swethavahana…

  Her grandmother had said that reciting Arjuna’s various names would ward off thunder and lightning. Maybe they offered other types of protection as well.

  ‘So … next week looks good for me,’ he said.

  ‘Great, I’ll get the crew ready for the interview.’

  ‘Not interview. For my trip to the US.’

  ‘Tell you what,’ she said. ‘Let’s do the interview first. You know, the crew is raring to go, we’ll also need time to edit, etc. You could do the trip soon after.’

  ‘Tell me again, Mona, I’m not clear,’ he said, tapping her on her knee and letting his fingertips slide down her calf, ‘what is the purpose of this interview?’

  Dhananjaya–Savyasachi–Gandivi…

  ‘As you know, this is Google Films’ entry into India. We want it to be as grand as possible. You’re our Indian brand ambassador, so to speak, and we thought an interview with you … which will be aired on the day of the function is a great way to showcase you and us on the same platform. We plan on calling the who’s who of the Indian film industry and some Hollywood biggies, too.’

  ‘What’s the interview going to be about?’ he said.

  ‘You,’ she said. ‘One hour of unadulterated you … your films, your likes, your dislikes, your plans. It’ll be like James Lipton’s Inside the Actor’s Studio. It’ll be aired on NBC probably, if Google’s deal with them works out.’

  Rajarajan produced that special smile that was reserved for any mention of his greatness. An expression he had worked on for long in front of a mirror, one he hoped combined small-town shyness with a hint of boyish pride. The image in her head was of a warthog pleasuring itself.

  ‘You know what I find really sexy?’ he said.

  She was glad she wasn’t a character in a comic book. Her thought bubble said: ‘Not you, you repellent excuse for a man. Anything but you.’

  ‘What shows between the hem of a top and the waistband of a skirt. That delectable curve of flesh that’s neither waist nor hip,’ he said.

  Sumi looked out of the air-conditioned section at the people outside. They were all eating overpriced fingerfood and laughing with what appeared to be not a care in the world. How many of them were pretending to be what they weren’t? How many of them were there against their will? How many lechers on the make? And, like the two men in a parked car outside, how many anxious good guys worrying about the welfare of their loved ones?

  She held her hand back from pulling her top down to cover her midriff.

  ‘I find that surprising, RR, half-naked women strewn about like breadcrumbs in your trade and you’re turned on by something so tame?’

  ‘I still think I should do the trip first,’ he said.

  Sumi finished the last of her ginger nectar and got up. Rajarajan made sure his hand brushed against her.

  ‘Excuse me,’ she said.

  ‘Take your time.’

  In the ladies’ room, Sumi took her goggles off and looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red.

  Arjuna–Phalguna–Kiriti–Swethavahana–Dhananjaya–Savyasachi–Gandivi–Jishnu– and finally –Partha.

  She strode back towards her table. A friend sitting at a table under the trees waved. Sumi waved back even though she could see Rajarajan staring at her through the window.

  ‘You seem to be popular,’ he said.

  Sumi deliberately sat on the opposite side of the table. She removed her Oakleys and put them on the table and gave Rajarajan a wide grin.

  ‘So,’ said Rajarajan, ‘when are we going to LA?’

  ‘Fuck you,’ she said.

  Rajarajan turned to see if someone behind him was being addressed.

  ‘Sorry?’ he said.

  ‘You heard me. Fuck you,’ she said. The smi
le was even wider. ‘Listen, RR, you want to do this, you’ve got to do it our way. Interview first. Trip later.’

  The director’s Adam’s apple disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later.

  ‘Say the word. Mani and Shankar are a phone call away.’ Sumi waved her phone in his face like a windshield wiper.

  ‘Okay, I like your style,’ he said. But his posture said otherwise.

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Let’s do it your way. Interview first, and then whatever.’ Rajarajan waved his hand as though dismissing the US trip.

  Yeah, you fucker, thought Sumi. Don’t see you handing over millions of bucks and international fame to Mani and Shankar.

  ‘I think you’re doing the right thing,’ she said, putting her goggles back on. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for the US and the press there. Don’t worry, it’s going to be a blitz.’

  ‘Tell me, were you on the phone with either of them when you went to the loo?’ he said.

  It took Sumi a second to realize that Rajarajan was referring to Shankar and Mani Ratnam, not Ray and Abie. She lifted her goggles just enough for him to see an elaborate wink and dropped them back on her nose.

  ‘You don’t know what’s gonna hit you, my friend,’ she said.

  Rajarajan grinned, lifted his arms above his head and stretched. The sweat stains under his arms were the size of medium-sized dosas.

  ~

  Ten minutes later, Sumi said, ‘I’ve saved you a hundred thousand dollars.’

  She was in the backseat of her Honda Civic. In the front seat, Abie and Ray looked like they had run the halfmarathon, red-faced and drenched in spite of the airconditioner being on max.

  ‘C’mon, give us the stuff,’ Abie said.

  ‘Take me home, I’m tired.’ Sumi did an imitation of Greta Garbo and fell back on her seat.

  30

  Selva looked at the nameplate on the shop that had come up on ECR. Ray had asked him to go to some shop that stocked international brands at City Plaza Mall on Mount Road but this would do. After all, it had been inaugurated a couple of months ago by sizzling starlet Savitri Vincent.

  Sugandhi’s Secret

  For the Incoming Needs of the Outgoing Woman

  Selva gave himself the once-over in the reflection on the shop window. He was dressed in civvies, jeans and a Fab India shirt given to him by Ray. To the best of his knowledge, he didn’t look like a pervert. The mannequin in the shop window in lacy bra and matching purple panties stared back at him, noncommital.