No Illusions in Xanadu

by Ruby Gupta

  Pallavi for her part, had spent months on getting the perfect styling done for Amar’s look in the film. She had gone so far as to choose a not-so-beautiful newcomer as heroine, so that her son would not be overshadowed.

  And yet the film had crashed in the first week of its release. The blame was laid on the fickle-minded public. No one dared hold responsible anything, or anyone, else. Though some nasty critics did lay the blame squarely on the rather wooden acting, by the somewhat plain-looking, uncharismatic hero.

  As Pallavi watched the film closely, she had to concede that Amar was not really cut out to be an actor, or a hero. He could not act to save his life. And yet this would have been pardonable, if he had some charisma, some screen presence. But he had none. Sadly, Amar was no good in the fight scenes, nor could he dance fluidly either. His movements in the action sequences remained jerky, despite uncountable takes. The choreography of the songs in the movie called for him to make as few movements as possible, and yet he ended up going through the motions with extreme awkwardness. Somehow, due to some unkind twist of fate, or some sort of freak mutation, Amar had inherited neither of his parents’ looks or talent.

  Tears welled up in Pallavi’s eyes. What great hopes she had had for her darling son. From the moment he had been born, she had decided that nothing but the best would do for him. From getting an English nanny, to exclusive baby furniture from abroad – she made sure that Amar grew up like a prince.

  There was no doubt in her mind that he would grow up and overshoot his father in talent and charisma and become an even bigger star than Rajvir. To have this fervent dream shattered like this was unbearable. There was an ache within her that just refused to go away.

  Five years had gone by since Amar’s first flop. Numerous other films had followed – each had faced the same fate as the first one.

  Now the situation was such, that despite Rajvir Kapoor’s formidable clout in the industry, no one was willing to risk time, money or talent in being part of any project that involved Amar. In hushed tones, everyone referred to him as the film industry’s biggest jinx.

  Pallavi tried to wipe away the tears that now came forth in a steady trickle. A year ago, she had begged Rajvir to make another film for Amar. It should be a tender love story she had suggested, more suited to their son’s personality. There would be none of the fight sequences and the dance routines which were the staple of most of the films being produced at the time. They were not Amar’s forte in any case.

  Somehow Rajvir was unconvinced. He had come to accept that Amar had no talent. But Pallavi could not accept it. There are many stars who cannot act to save their lives, she had pointed out. Yet, they exist in the industry. So, couldn’t they do the same for their son, their only son? They could commission the best storywriters and scriptwriters to write something that would surely ensure that the film would be a hit. Just one hit and then there would be no looking back.

  After months of cajoling, Rajvir had finally agreed to produce the film. Pallavi had been ecstatic. She knew this was the only way she could bring back her son from hurtling towards certain disaster.

  Then, suddenly everything changed. Rajvir decided to defer the project. Pallavi could not understand it. She knew that deferring it was as good as shelving it. This would not do Amar any good. He would recede further into his world of drugs and debauchery; this was more than she could bear. If she could, she would have produced the film herself, but she knew nothing could be possible without Rajvir – given his standing in the industry.

  Whenever she asked Rajvir, he simply fobbed her off that he would do it the next year, he was not deferring it indefinitely, it was just that there were too many things on his hands at the moment, and so he could not devote the time and attention that Amar’s film deserved. Pallavi had had to be content with this explanation. She had no choice but to bide her time.

  Then she learnt from the industry grapevine, that the other son of Rajvir was being launched – and by none other than Rajvir himself. Pallavi was shocked. That Rajvir would betray her like this; and betray his own legitimate son! It was more than she could tolerate. When she confronted Rajvir, he simply denied it; but he could not do so for long. Soon he did acknowledge that he was indeed launching Chandra Prakash. There was no remorse, no guilt, no nothing.

  ‘What I have done once for Amar, I must do once for Chandra Prakash as well,’ was his simple explanation, when she goaded him.

  ‘Both are my blood,’ he said with a note of finality.

  And that was that.

  Pallavi was unable to accept such a blatant insult. For months, she had seethed in anger, jealousy, and bitterness. Gradually, an unrelenting fury had taken hold of her psyche, refusing to let up. The more she saw Amar slipping away from reality, and the more she saw Chandra Prakash stepping into the limelight, the more her hatred for Rajvir grew…

  How could Rajvir do this to her? She had given her entire life to him, and what did she get in return? Not his loyalty, or fidelity or anything. The least he could have done was support their son. This was the very least he could have done. Did he not feel anything for their son?

  Pallavi could not believe that this could be happening to her. And that too now? Now, when her life should have become easy … At least at this stage of her life, she should have things easy. But no – she could not have even this much relief in her life.

  To see her only son, her precious Amar destroyed like this, all due to Rajvir, was more than she could stomach. She could not let her precious Amar slip away from life like this. She had to do something, simply had to do something to save her baby, her innocent little son. She would do anything – no matter what the cost.

  And now it was only fitting that Rajvir Kapoor was dead – if he could not help Amar – he should not be able to help anyone else either! Now let’s see what happens to Chandra Prakash’s debut film, Pallavi smiled crookedly through her tears…

  Chapter 11

  Inspector Bhogle and Professor Shantanu were sharing a cup of coffee as they discussed the case. Over the past week, they had developed a tenuous friendship. Having learnt of Shantanu’s past success as an amateur sleuth, Bhogle had taken to treating the professor as a sounding board. As they sat, mulling over the facts, they realized that they were nowhere near solving the case. There was no hard evidence really.

  ‘You have the advantage of living here at Xanadu,’ Bhogle said. ‘Tell me your impression of these people when they are unguarded.’

  ‘Unguarded?’ Professor Shantanu queried.

  ‘Yes. With me they are all performing a particular role, projecting only that which they want me to see. But with you perhaps, they could reveal their true self, or let slip some vital clue. This is extremely important for me to know. For frankly speaking, I have no idea about the likely culprit,’ the inspector looked despondent.

  ‘Well yes, they do speak freely, because perhaps they think I’m harmless, or ignore me most of the time. But still, I have not gained any lead as such; nothing important anyway,’ Shantanu said.

  ‘Oh,’ Bhogle looked morose.

  ‘What about checking the cricket-betting and match-fixing angle I told you about the other day? Did you get a chance to look into it?’ Shantanu asked.

  ‘Yeah, of course. I’m clutching at straws here and so I did check it out. Unfortunately, we only have evidence of the involvement of some small-time character actors, a couple of producers and a starlet from the film industry. Apart from them, a couple of cricketers and some officials of the Cricket Board are involved. There is no way that Rajvir Kapoor could be linked to it. Not by a long shot,’ Bhogle explained.

  ‘Umm – I had thought so too. But it is always better to clarify every doubt that one has,’ Shantanu was pleased that the inspector had taken his suggestion so seriously and checked it out. ‘And what about that sloping-shouldered person who had entered Rajvir’s study that night? Could anyone recognize him?’

  ‘No – strangely enough no one could. I cro
ss-checked with Rose, the Head of Security and Pallavi Ma’am,’ Bhogle paused. He wondered whether to fill in the professor with his latest interrogation of the contract killer. Then deciding to do so, he rapidly shared his information about the supari being given for killing the star.

  ‘My God! This is astounding!’ Professor Shantanu was shocked. ‘So, this means that more than one person wanted Rajvir Kapoor dead.’

  ‘Yes. The question is who these two persons are, and what were their motives?’ Bhogle said.

  ‘What had Rajvir done, that was so bad that these people wanted him dead?’

  ‘It must have been something terrible – why else would murder be committed? Then to fork out one crore for it! This kind of money is no joke, you know,’ Bhogle said.

  ‘Yes – the person must be very wealthy and hated Rajvir enough to spend this kind of money to have him killed. The profit he gained from his death has to be worth several times more than one crore,’ the professor said

  ‘Yes. So, there is one person who gave out the contract because he could not carry out the killing himself. Maybe because the person had no way of entering Xanadu. And paid up in full because he thought that the murder was the result of the supari,’ the inspector said.

  ‘Oh God.’

  ‘But I double checked the close circuit camera footage of all the entry and exit points of Xanadu after interrogating the supari chap. The contract killer did not turn up in any of the footage,’ Bhogle spoke almost sadly. He would have liked nothing better to find evidence against the history-sheeter and close the case.

  ‘So, the contract killer did not actually carry out the hit,’ the professor said. ‘And the person who commissioned the hit must be someone extremely naïve and with no links with the underworld to have hired such an incompetent killer who is a druggie to boot.’

  ‘Yes.’ Bhogle nodded. ‘And it was most probably another person who committed the murder due to his own reasons. This person had easy access to Xanadu and could easily commit the crime with no one being the wiser,’ he continued.

  ‘Umm…I suppose this must be the case.’

  ‘Though, it could actually be a professional hit after all. Maybe a second supari was given, about which we know nothing as yet. Remember, the murderer was smart enough to leave behind no clues or fingerprints or anything,’ Bhogle stated.

  ‘You know, with so many crime shows on television, I think even a kid knows enough about leaving behind no fingerprints or clues at the scene of the crime. So, it could be an amateur also who could have actually done the deed,’ Professor Shantanu pointed out.

  ‘Yes – you are right. So, in effect, we are back to square one – with no clues, no suspects and no motive. Will this case be my undoing?’ Bhogle looked despondent.

  ‘Don’t you worry – I’m sure we will have a breakthrough very soon,’ Shantanu spoke conciliatorily, almost believing his own words. ‘Meanwhile let’s review our list of suspects and try and narrow it down.’

  Bhogle flipped open his case diary. ‘No matter which way I look at it, I keep zeroing in on the family only. Like I discussed with you last, I’m inclined to think that all of them had a motive to kill Rajvir. And only they knew about the presence of the loaded gun and where the key to it was located. In fact, it syncs with our latest conclusion that there are two persons who wanted him dead. All the family members had the opportunity to kill him personally. Alternatively, they all also had the money to hire a killer, if they were squeamish about doing the deed personally.’

  ‘You are right,’ the professor said. ‘So, who do you think has the strongest motive?’

  ‘Out of all of them, I think Pallavi is the one who must have done it for sure,’ Bhogle spoke convincingly.

  ‘Wh…why?’ Shantanu did not like where this was going. He felt a sudden anxiety within him.

  ‘You see, Pallavi must have surely hated Rajvir because of all his affairs and his marrying Jyothika. Then she must have been pushed too far when Rajvir decided to launch Chandra Prakash and finally when she realized that he left equal assets to his second family,’ Bhogle said.

  Professor Shantanu remained quiet. He had concluded the same himself. ‘But there is no evidence, is there?’ he said, as Pallavi’s charming face swam before his eyes.

  ‘That is true. The entire problem is that I have no evidence,’ Bhogle pushed his fingers through his hair in frustration.

  ‘And it could be Amar as well,’ the professor pointed out.

  ‘Yes, I have thought of him too.’

  ‘He hated his father. More so Rajvir forced him to break up with the love of his life when he was at acting school in the US,’ Shantanu added.

  ‘Really? How do you know that?’ the inspector was surprised.

  ‘Like you said, I live at Xanadu and make sure to keep my eyes and ears open. One gets to know stuff,’ the professor confessed.

  ‘I agree Amar could also be the killer. A childhood hatred, a failed career, a lost love, a drug habit, and an unhappy, belittled mother – all of which could be blamed upon one person. This is the surest cocktail to unhinge anyone and make him a murderer,’ Bhogle said.

  ‘I think that Remanika could also be culprit,’ Shantanu said.

  ‘Umm, I did think of her. But I’m not very convinced.’

  ‘You do know she was sort of conned by Rajvir into marrying Amar?’

  ‘Well yes. Strangely enough, my wife gave the idea to me,’ Bhogle admitted. ‘Reading film magazines is her passion,’ he continued half-apologetically.

  ‘She was at the peak of her film career, had just won the National Award for Best Actress. But after marrying Amar, she lost it all. No films, no love, no independent source of earning; she was left nothing in the will either. She is not getting any younger also. Remanika must have been mad as hell at Rajvir for literally ruining her life. Motive enough for murder, wouldn’t you say?’ Professor Shantanu made a convincing point.

  ‘Sure, you are right.’ Bhogle paused. ‘What about Mridula? Do you think she too has a motive?’ he said.

  ‘Umm… I don’t know. Maybe, maybe she could. Rajvir did throttle all her ambitions of becoming an actress. And I suspect, since then, she has lost her zest for life and lives in a perennial state of depression. To top it, Rajvir did not leave her anything in his will. Presumably because he gave her whatever she deserved at the time of her wedding.’

  ‘Could this be reason enough to kill? More so, is she the type to kill? She is rather mousy,’ the inspector spoke doubtfully.

  ‘Sometimes, it is the quiet ones who have a rich inner world which leads them to sometimes take surprising actions,’ the professor said.

  ‘You could be right. Who else is there? Jyothika and Chandra Prakash?’ Bhogle asked.

  ‘I don’t think they have adequate motive. Rather they do not seem to have any motive at all. At the present time, it was only these two who were happy with Rajvir, I would think. They were adequately looked after in the will and Chandra Prakash was being launched as the next superstar,’ Shantanu said.

  ‘Yes. So, who else can it be,’ the inspector looked into his jottings. ‘Lucas, we have already ruled out. Rajvir’s brother, Girish lives in Singapore, is far removed from the film world and has no motive either.’

  ‘Do you think there could be some childhood motive? Siblings – brothers actually, have been known to nurse hatred for each other… Sometimes with fatal results. Maybe, maybe he hired a contract killer and engineered the whole thing by remote, whilst having the perfect alibi of being in Singapore at the time of the murder,’ Shantanu pointed out.

  ‘Hmm, could be; I will check this out too,’ Bhogle made a note in his case diary.

  ‘Let’s see. I have ruled out people employed at Xanadu, and all of Rajvir’s staff, as well as the temporary staff. None of the bigwigs that I spoke to seem to have anything to do with the death either. They do not have adequate motive; and the three who were seen on camera going to Rajvir’s study that night did not know
about the gun in Rajvir’s drawer. In fact, all of them had left or retired long before the crime time-window,’ Bhogle paused. ‘It all comes back to the immediate family.’

  ‘And what about Rajvir’s friends, Commissioner Ahuja, Swami Maheshananda and Dr. Singhvi? Surely, they knew about the gun in Rajvir’s desk drawer,’ Shantanu raised a pertinent point.

  ‘Yes, and that’s why I did interrogate the swami and the doctor closely a second-time round; but could not find any motive. Rather they were the only people who seemed to have genuine affection for the star and were truly saddened by the tragedy. And besides, they were not seen on the security camera footage, entering the study that day,’ Bhogle said.

  ‘What about CP Ahuja?’

  ‘Yeah I talked to him also. But as per the security footage, he left Xanadu around midnight, long before the murder happened. And he has absolutely no motive. In fact, he genuinely cared for and respected the star,’ Bhogle explained.

  ‘So, what will you do now?’

  ‘I have to proceed carefully. What we have just discussed is conjecture really. I have to pinpoint my suspects as being present at the scene of crime when the murder took place. This means that they should have been in Rajvir’s study between three and five in the morning. If only they could have been caught in the security camera, either going in or leaving.’

  ‘Yes, and as of now there is only one unidentifiable person caught on camera who entered the study during the crime time-window. If only Rajvir had cameras installed in his study!’ Shantanu said.

  ‘Or if some reliable witness would come forward and give evidence about someone they saw entering or leaving the study at the time… Also, I need some concrete evidence against them. Only then I can book any one of them for murder,’ Bhogle spoke glumly.

  ‘Yes. You have to be careful,’ Shantanu concurred.

  ‘This is a sensitive high-profile case, involving the famous and the elite. I can’t afford to screw it up,’ Bhogle spoke earnestly.