Deep in the forests of Ututadi, we see a car's head lights meandering across a narrow road fortified by trees. In the car, are two girls in their twenties. Preeti is driving and her friend Akanksha, is looking out of the window, holding on to a pendant that bares two logs of wood on fire. Preeti has been driving for five long hours, now asks Akanksha if she is still sure of where they are headed, or are they actually lost. Akanksha without looking at Preeti, responds that they are almost there.
It's almost twilight now, and they stop by an open field surrounded by trees, and a small lake is seen at a distance. Besides the lake, Preeti catches sight of an old temple that looks like it had been abandoned for hundreds of years. Akanksha gets out of the car, and begins walking towards the lake. Preeti follows her hesitantly. Akanksha doesn't seem to be bothered about Preeti, and without looking back, starts walking towards the giant dark temple.
Preeti (with Akanksha in sight) scans the dark walls near the entrance of the temple. She stares at a wall carving of a group of saints worshipping a lady. The woman seemed young, beautiful and with long black hair covering most of her body.  Besides the carving, is a scripture that reads a verse:

My Lord shall forever be The One Channamallikarjuna

Preeti was sure that she had read this in one of Akka Mahadevi's poems before in history class. Preeti runs inside, she finds Akanksha at a distance, who has now stopped in front of a woman-statue that resembles the one in the carving. Akanksha seems like she is staring at the dark statue, and smiles at it in content, as if she found something.
"Is this what we were looking for?" asks Preeti, who catches up with Akanksha.
Akanksha doesn't respond and continues to smile at the statue.
"Oh!!! Akka Mahadevi!!!" Preeti exclaims, now admiring the statue "so YOU are the reason why my stupid friend dragged me all the way here!"
The statue stands easily ten feet taller than the two girls. Mahadevi's eyes are bearing down at them.
Preeti turns around to Akanksha and desperately asks "Ok, so now we found Akka, and she is safe here in the middle of this quiet jungle.. Far away from that evil king Kaushika. Can we please go now?"
Preeti wonders why Akanksha keeps smiling at this statue. She flashes the torch at Akanksha, who seems to be unresponsive  to her questions. She then flashes the torch over Akka Mahadevi's face. The level of details in the statue are carefully crafted. Every strand of Akka Mahadevi's hair seems to be well defined. "this statue must be over a thousand years old, I'm surprised why nobody ever visited or talked about this temple"
She lowers the torch-light and finds a necklace also carved onto the statue's neck.
To Preeti's surprise, the pendant of the necklace resembles the exact one that belonged to Akanksha's: The two logs of wood on fire. Preeti is suddenly gripped by a cold chill, and suddenly the torch starts to flicker. She starts to tremble and slowly moves the torch back on to Akanksha, who's face is now completely covered by her hair.
"Akankshaaa!!!!!" She screams, and falls backward.
Akanksha slowly strips off her clothes, and begins reciting the same verse that Preeti once read in history class. Preeti seems too paralysed to move, as she watches her friend, who's body is now completely hidden by her own hair, walk out of the temple, reciting the last part of the verse.

Subhash, a 22 year old,  is reading a book on Applied Mechanics in his small dingy room. When he takes a break, he opens a magazine and admires a picture of Shoaib Akhtar. Radio plays commentary updates 
him on India's score. We see around his room are a few trophies from school, but at the center piece is an old ball that is placed in a glass case. A plate below reads "Under 19 Man of the Match" 

Flashback -- in junior college: Under 19 state level match :

Situation : last over only 3 runs to win. Subhash is given the ball.
All that Subhash can see during bowling -- is only the stumps, and nothing else. Subhash bowls a sensational maiden in the final over to win the match. His team mates pick him up and Subhash is holding the ball in his hand, celebrating.
Voice over of an elderly man as we see a shot of Subhash celebrating :
"see I've also been in his place. People say he has talent, he has this and that. But think about his future. It's tough to get a job. "
Scene is now focused on Subhash's parents getting a lecture from an uncle (he was the person who was initially talking)
"I used to play myself. I made it to the Ranji team. But what did I get in return? I still have to pay my house rent, pay for my daughters education, and run my house on a small pension the cricket board 
provides. And now I curse myself for 'chasing my dreams'."
He sounds intense and more angry now.. 
"You are really lucky that Subhash still has his head on his shoulders. He's 17 - there is still time. Before he gets more influenced, please make sure he secures his future by putting him into engineering"

Fade out.

Next scene is in the future: Out of engineering college.. Campus Job interview:

Subhash looking nervous, in a clean ironed shirt, in front of an interview panel.One panel member looks into his CV and comments "oh so you have cricket as ur hobby and have played for Karnataka's under 19 team!"
Subhash: "yes sir"
"why didn't you try for under 21?" 
Subhash has a gulp in his throat..

Another Flashback (after under 19 match) Subhash gets home and is listenning to that conversation between his parents and that uncle who asked for Subhash to go for Engineering.

His parents are back talking to that uncle. Subhash is listening from behind - and he hears his dad tell that man "If you were given a chance by your parents to play for Ranji, I don't see why I should not give 
my own son a chance."

Mom: "but Rahul.. We talked about this. Subhash needs to have degree in hand also"

Subhash's Dad (Rahul) stops her from talking:" Subhash should do whatever he wants. If he wants to play, he will play. That's enough" 
Subhash has tears in his eyes as he listens from behind the room door.

A week later, after cricket practice, Subhash checks on the board to see he is listed in the under 21 probables for Ranji team. He is MAD with excitement. He runs home to tell his father, his mother is the only one home -- father still seems to be at work. He decides to wait until he gets back so he can tell both of them. Mom tells Subhash "I hope you are 
preparing well for the exams"
Subhash: "haaan maa. Just tell me when dad comes back, I'm going out to meet a friend to return his practical books" (subhash lied)
Instead - Subhash takes that old ball from the glass case that brought him a lot of success in college, and heads out on the ground just behind his house. 
He finds a tree that he marks as a wicket.. and starts his run up towards it. 
On his first delivery, he hits the Bullseye.
He looks up into the sky and thanks God for everything.
We see continuous shots of him bowling to the same tree, we see a true talent. sweating it out and he's loving it.
In one instant- a delivery goes wayward. He loses the ball in the shrubs. He can't seem to find it. Just when he starts to panic with the fear of losing the ball, he hears a scream and people collecting near his house. He runs back home to find his father on the floor, mom next to him screaming asking for doctor on the phone. His dad looks at Subhash before he passes away.

Flashback to interview :

Subhash acts like he is lost - and suddenly regains control of the interview. 

They ask him again "why did u not play for under 21"
"Sir, I was aware of the interview- and it's minimum cutoff requirement. I was prepared to make a few sacrifices to make it to this interview" (audience doesn't know if Subhash means what he says or is he 
just trying to impress)
Rest of Interview goes well, they offer Subhash a good package and shake hands, congratulate him 
"welcome aboard"

Last scene is of the old ball lying somewhere in the bushes.. A dog sniffs it and leaves it.

Fade out.

A mother calls out to her 5 year old son, who is playing with a water hose.  "Nishanttt, come here quickly!" He runs to her discovering a small puppy in her arms, that she decided to gift him. He adores it and hugs his mom.
25 years down,  Nishant is having a romantic meal with his girlfriend, he pulls out a ring- asking her to marry him. She has tears of happiness and she says yes. Soon after- Nishant and his friends are partying at his place to celebrate his engagement. His friend introduces him to a japanese drink that must be consumed in small quantities. He is already pretty drunk and takes a HUGE shot of it. He immediately passes out. The next morning - when he wakes up, Nishant  slowly goes to the living room and turns on the TV. While flicking channels he stops at a breaking news of a flood in Chennai. He is confused since he feels he already knew this since a month ago. He flips the channel again and sees another news of Miss Columbia being crowned Miss Universe. He sits down to breathe. He knew all of this already! He checks his calendar and it says OCT 21 2015. Nishant was SURE it was November. He has no Idea how this is happening. He gets some fresh air and decides to go to a Starbucks that recently opened near his neighborhood. He reaches there to find its still under construction and hoarding says: opening soon! By now he's convinced that somehow - he has seen one month into the future. However - whenever he tries telling anyone this - they don't believe him. And he can't prove he's right since he doesn't remember many future changes happening in that month. He goes back home thinking about how this all started and figures it was that drink his friend gave him at the party.  He looks for the bottle and has a bigger dose this time, he immediately passes out.
He wakes up again, and he writes on a piece of paper what he thinks is the data. "For certain it's December 2017". To his shock and excitement - he sees the calendar in his room still say Oct 22 2015. He instinctively decides to tell his wife about his gift, but when he looks for her at home - he realizes he still not married to her and she at her own place. He goes to her to speak to her and he tells her and proves it to her that he can see the future.  She is excited on learning this and after some time she thanks him for the ring he gift her at the restaurant just a few days ago. Now the funny thing is, Nishant has no recollection of this. He asks her for details on how the proposal exactly happened and he has absolutely no memory of it. She begins to cry, and he tells her to stop acting like a child because she is failing to see the bigger picture, of what this means that he can actually look into the future, and he reminds her of how happy they both are 2 years from now. He worries slightly, but he decides to take this as a small bump in the road. He reaps the benefits of knowing 2 years before hand and makes a lot of money in the stock market, and he makes no real effort in trying to 'change' what is set for the future. A year later, he is married now and decides to buy a bigger apartment. While moving out stuff, he finds that Japanese bottle again. What if he had a bit more of it? He would know what happened much much further - like … what are the advancements in science and technology say 50 years from now..? But he remembers what happened the last time he took the drink, that he lost his memory just for those few days. He weighs the consequences. Curiosity gets to the better of him and he drinks up. He drinks the entire bottle. He tries standing but he loses consciousness and falls to the ground. He wakes up in the hospital.  A few people surround him, 2 nurses and one doctor. He doesn't see his wife/gf anywhere. The doctor tries speaking to him asking him if he can remember what happened.
He last remembers himself drinking that bottle. He knows what that meant, so he quickly writes the date on a piece of paper : April 2045The doctor seems confused, but Nishant is VERY excited. One of the ladies who seemed to be a nurse rushes to him and hugs him saying "Thank god you are awake, I thought something happened to you"He breaks the hug and with a blank expression asks her: "wait.. Who are you?" The camera shows clearly that the girl he thought to be a nurse was his girlfriend who is shattered to bits. And the other nurse behind was none other than his own mother.

An Amazon delivery guy delivers a package to Nikhil, who is clearly happy in recieving the parcel. He turns around to his girl friend behind, "Happy New Year!!" She wishes him with a warm hug. "Oh man, you shouldn't have !!" says Nikhil. And they both hug again. He opens the outer wrapping to discover its a Playstation. He is ecstatic!
Later that evening they are shown celebrating with friends. His friends are envious about him. One whispers into his ear "You lucky bastard" and they both share a grin.
Rahul and Reshma are walking across the road, he is being forced to go to a hairdresser since Reshma wants to look her best on New Year's eve.
Rahul says "I really don't get why you want ME to accompany you? I have my own worries yaar." 
Reshma gives a 'pretty please' expression that makes Rahul's heart melt. Rahul says "Fine. In return you come with me to watch Star Wars and you won't say a WORD in between while watching"
Reshma gives him a kiss and they go inside the salon. Rahul picks a spot in the corner and checks his phone while he watches Reshma talking to this other girl as she gets her haircut. Shortly, Reshma introduces Rahul to this girl "Sarika, meet Rahul. Rahul, You won't believe this, Sarika works in your office building itself..! See, i found you some company in that 'hard workspace' of yours!"
Rahul and Sarika share a glance and say Hi. There's some definite chemistry there.
As the girls go to pay their bills, Rahul quickly looks Sarika up and whatsapp messages his friend Sarika's picture saying "Met this girl today" 
Friend responds saying "You lucky bastard"

Nikhil wakes up the next morning after a hangover. He looks at the playstation and begins unboxing and hooks it up to the TV.
He checks on his girlfriend, she still asleep. He begins playing.
It's afternoon, his girlfriend's already showered, ready and wanting to head out. Nikhil still in his pajamas, fixated on the TV. 

Rahul wakes up the next day, brushes his teeth and gets ready to go to Office. He kisses Reshma before he leaves and closes the door.
He bumps into Sarika near the office elevator. They both fix a time to meet later at work.

Nikhil's still playing the playstation. His girl says she is going out with her friends, expecting a response - he doesn't move nor turns his head to say goodbye. Girlfriend shows disgust, and slams the door shut.
Shots of him playing. Nikhil's dog wants to play - but he doesn't budge- his hands are too busy with the controller to even pet the dog. his dog curls up into the corner to go to sleep. His gf comes back and he is still at it. She yells at him but it has no effect on Nikhil.

This continues for days.. 
Shots of Rahul and Sarika at a coffee shop. Laughing and giggling.
Cut scene:  Nikhil ignores calls and msgs from his family and friends, with no emotion on his face.
Cut Scene: Rahul ignores calls from Reshma, while he's still at the coffee shop.

Suddenly the lights go out while Nikhil is playing. This is the only time he shows emotion. He paces up and down waiting to see if the fan starts. His gf thinks he is going crazy. 
Sarika doesn't show up for coffee that day. Rahul sits alone waiting, and he sees another guy with Sarika heading outside the office.
Rahul sees Reshma calling on his phone, he slams the phone to the ground, breaking it.

More shots of Nikhil playing, sweating as he does. We see intensity in his eyes. He finally finishes the game and jumps to celebrate. He looks around, nobody is home. On the sofa, there's a note which his gf leaves behind.  As he reads, he begins crying and realizes how lonely he is.
Cut scene to Rahul: Rahul returns home from work, only to find all of Reshma's stuff gone. Rahul sits near the stairs and starts crying.

Aparna Dixit, a lady in her mid 30s is seen sitting on the couch with a couple of elderly people, seemingly her in laws. Tea and biscuits are being passed around and They are boasting about her husband's new upcoming business venture in Los Angeles. They pause to ask Aparna if she will be able to Manage the house on her own during that time. She makes an awkward smile and obediently replies "no problem" and silently looks at an old wedding picture of them on the wall.

Further into the day, she is done preparing dinner in her nightgown. She checks on her 2 year old son, puts him to sleep. her husband, who is seen wearing a comfortable Kurta, his back is facing her as he sits on the couch, watching tv. She watches from a distance as she folds a few clothes. No words are exchanged between them.

She goes to bed on her own.

The next morning she wakes up because of the alarm. She checks the time and says "SHIT!" And she hurries to get to work. The house is much smaller, yet more colorful
The tempo is high and energetic, she is much more attractive and seems confident. She reaches for the car keys, clumsily forgets her mobile and goes back to get it.
She is talking to her friend while driving hands free. She is laughing about some guy she met last night at the bar
She reaches work and her boss reminds her she is late. She pretends to look at her watch, says sorry, jokes and runs inside the auditorium
The camera follows her inside, into a theatre with a packed audience facing her. She is just in time to grab the spotlight
She grabs the microphone and delivers a joke and there is a roar of laughter. The audience seem to love her
She thanks the audience and goes backstage where all her colleagues and friends congratulate her for nailing the deliveries. She is evidently blushing, someone in the crowd says "Oh my god, look at her blush!"

She wakes up because of the sound of her baby crying. Her husband is sleeping at a distance from her with his back turned to her. "Go check on what's her problem now" he murmurs.
She slowly walks to the other room where the baby is. She stops to look at herself in the mirror. There is a faint voice of people in a crowd still laughing.
Scene shifts back to the auditorium, she is about to leave the stage when she sees a guy in the audience making eye contact with her, they both share a smile . He looks just like her husband.
She thanks the crowd and leaves the stage blushing, she can hear someone say  "Oh my god, look at her blush!"
Scene shifts back at home. She picks up her baby and puts him to sleep, she slowly starts to cry as she kisses his forehead. She puts him back in the cradle, looks back at the mirror, wipes off her tears and leaves the room.

-by NJM
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