It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part VIII)

I have selected the story, It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part VIII), for today. I had written this story for an educational course, I was taking in the 1990s.

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good! (Part VIII)

Radha’s sensitive reporter’s nose took her back to the sets in Kamalisthan where the last few shots were being shot again. She asked Syed to give her a couple of minutes and he obliged. Radha told him her theory that perhaps Gaznavi was behind the accidents on the sets of Syed’s movie.

“It can’t be. We’ve known each other since childhood. We are very good friends even now. He wouldn’t do anything like that.”

“Did you know that his story has been lifted by someone and I suspect that the movie being made is this one.”

“What? I can’t believe it.”

“If not, what is the connection? Ok. Tell me, are the other technicians being threatened, in a similar way as you?”

“Not that I know of. But you can speak to the director.”

As soon as the director had given a negative reply, a car came straight for them!

Syed pulled Radha away from its path and the director jumped to the other side. They all turned to see it crash onto a large part of the sets. The man inside was completely haggard and was hurt on several parts of his body.

“Producer Sahab, what happened?” Everybody ran toward the man.

“The brakes failed,” he replied, limping on his right leg toward a chair.

Producer Malkani was a builder, who was investing in an Indie film for the first time. He spoke at length to Radha about his film and the events that were taking place during the shooting. He said that he had received threatening calls and a couple of notes. The latter he had destroyed since he thought they meant nothing to him. Radha also put forward her theory of sabotage without going into details on who was behind it.

“I know, who is behind it. The underworld!” replied Malkani. “I thwarted their attempts to drain my bank balance…”

At that moment, his mobile rang. He excused himself, shouting into it; he limped on his left leg. Radha went to the car before the mechanic could reach the place and looked into it, to find what she wanted. The maximum damage had occurred to only that side of the sets.

Radha found out the name of the writer of the movie, Kazi and went to meet him to ascertain if he had actually lifted Gaznavi’s story. If he had, Kazi did not indicate it. About the events occurring during the shooting, he was aware of it only by way of what he had heard from people. This was because he would rarely go to the shoot. It also meant that he had not been sent any of the warnings.

“That is odd,” Radha thought. “If Kazi has lifted Gaznavi’s story, then Kazi should have been the main target. Why is Gaznavi trying to sabotage his good friend, Syed’s career by damaging the sets and tampering with the memory cards? Obviously, Gaznavi is not the real culprit! I was on the wrong track, then. So, the main motive behind these incidents was not to sabotage anybody’s career. But then, why were they happening? If disruption of the shoot was the main aim, then why were the incidents not happening every day and why did they not happen when the first schedule began? These incidents were more recent. And why were the other technicians not affected by the incidents? Why only Syed?”

Then, there was something else, in fact, 2 things that happened the day the producer’s car crashed onto his movie sets. They did not fall into place – something she saw inside the car and the producer’s behavior. What were they? She could not remember.

She had peeped into the car to confirm that the brakes had really failed. But she had seen something else, too. What was it? Yes. The handbrakes were in working condition. Then, why hadn’t Malkani used them? And then why did he first limp on his right leg and then left?”

Everything was so confusing!

At that time, her mobile rang. It was Syed. “Gaznavi’s story was not lifted by Kazi. A big banner writer-director had lifted his story and the shooting had already begun in Switzerland. And Gaznavi did not mean anything mean by talking about the culprit suffering. He meant he is going into direction himself and intends to complete the film before the other one,” Syed informed.

“Syed, can you meet us at our newspaper office in an hour’s time, please? I think I’ll have enough information by then about the happenings,” she requested.

To be continued…