Title: Just-a-Minute
Idea: Forewarned is forearmed
Plot: Born
one-minute ahead of time helps avert unforeseen circumstances including
scuttling a bank robbery
Genre: Drama
Script Regn No (SWA): 35037
Membership No: 49484
Prithvi lives a life with a 1-minute advantage over everyone else on earth. At birth he surprises his gynec. At an early age he is recognized as a batting and bowling prodigy. He plays to replays of what happened with no one knowing any better. He is like the ice hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky, who knew where the puck is going to be and made sure he was there to smash in the goals. With the 1-minute advantage Prithvi is seen as agile and fast in responding until … as they say when door closes, another opens.
The Story
Seg 1
Prithvi is born to two of the fastest athletes in the country – the Usain Bolts of men and women athletics. At birth before the doctor can smack him on his bottoms he begins to howl and all is found well with his breathing.
Seg II
In school he is lauded as a child prodigy due to his cricketing skills. He is able to see everything 1-minute before it happens to plan his response. Then one day on the grounds the outfielder throws the ball at the stumps but the bowler had turned his back and is walking back for his run-up.
Prithvi perceives what is going to happen and leaps to protect the bowler from being hit on the head with the ball. He falls awkwardly and fractures his wrist severely bringing an end to his cricketing career. This nature of putting his life on the line stays with him throughout his life.
Seg III
Prithvi studies law and appears for the IPS exam and joins the police as the Deputy Superintendent of Police of a town with two rival gangs who rule two halves of the town and any trespass by one into other is severely punished often with the trespasser disappearing for good.
The rival gangs control the underworld as well as legitimate business over ground with no resistance from anyone as everyone from politicians to the police are paid off.
No one is inclined to change the status quo. The two gangs agree on one
thing. They are united in keeping the politicians and police in their pocket
and will never squeal on the other as part of the code of honour between
thieves.
Prithvi is chosen for the posting for his avowed agility at anticipating and preventing bad things from happening from a series of vignettes that show his anticipation:
- Saving a woman jumping before the train by just walking before her accidentally; he befriends the woman and counsels her; he also fixes what is causing her grief – an abusive, drunken husband – with threat of police action if he were ever to lay hand on her
- He makes a handsome amount in the stock market as a market player before appearing for his UPSC exam and creates a good nest egg
- He scuttles a bank heist by stealthily taking the air off the vehicle in which the robbers planned to escape including alerting the bank guard simultaneously prompting him to consider joining the IPS
- He meets his future wife when he tags along on his Royal Enfield Bullet behind a vehicle where the driver intended to use a sleeping gas with some terrible intent by manoeuvring the cab to the sidewalk near a police ‘bandobust’ and rescuing his future wife from the car
- Charming his future wife by playing a game of who can anticipate what colour car will next turn the corner, will the waiter serve them or the people on the next table first and many such getting to know each other games
Seg V
Prithvi takes office and tells his inspector to get the heads of the two gangs to come to his office. The inspector deferentially asks the two heads to come and they say they are busy. Prithvi knows they will not come. He tells the inspector to convey the message to both the heads that if they don’t then he will have to come to their office and it will be with arrest warrants.
Seg VI
The two heads are enraged at the insolence of this officer and agree to teach him a lesson. They organize to set up a mock gang war with a plan of ambushing the police force and eliminating Prithvi.
Seg VII
Prithvi knows something dire is cooking. Prithvi gets permission from
the state home department to tap their phones. He learns of their phone conversation how and
where the gang war will be set off. Their plan was simple. They will use dummy
bullets at each other in the market place chosen for this purpose to wall the
police in when they arrive. Some in the police department are also told of the
plan so they are able to momentarily expose Prithvi for the sharp shooter to
take him out. The inspector is one of the men in the department on the gangs’
payroll. He is paid off by both gangs.
Seg VIII
Prithvi comes in late one day to the office. He calls the inspector and tells him in absolute confidence. He insists at the risk of the inspector holding on to his job that none in the police department should know.
He tells the inspector that one of the gang heads met with him. Prithvi does not specify which gang head for reasons of maintaining confidentiality. He tells the inspector that this gang head believes that this is a set up. In the guise of taking Prithvi down, one of the gangs will be armed with real bullets, not rubber bullets. Their plan is to eliminate the other gang once and for all.
Prithvi tells the inspector this problem has arisen because the cash cow of one of the gangs – gold smuggling – being located on the coast has come to a standstill. Their principals sitting in Dubai have been busted. They don’t have the resources to pay offs the higher ups and their patrons are becoming nasty because their higher ups up the ladder are facing pressure because state elections are due soon.
Whereas the gang in the interior are flush with funds from the drug trade and have been approaching the opposite gang’s best members to cross over.
The inspector is aware of the economic difficulties of the coastal gang. His own take has come down in the last two months. He has no reason to disbelieve Prithvi. But he does not know which gang head thinks the other is planning to use real bullets – the one with the drugs and money – or the one without gold – and needs money desperately to keep his patrons happy.
Seg IX
The inspector assures Prithvi of full complete secrecy. Prithvi asks the inspector to excuse him as he has to brief the higher ups in the department of the development. Prithvi walks into an interior private chamber.
Seg X
The inspector leaves and starts a conversation with the driver of Prithvi’s police jeep. He wants to figure out where Prithvi has been – toward the coast or to the interior. The driver says he went to the marketplace which is the middle or the town which is treated as the no-man’s land by both the gangs. He says he did not see where the boss went as he asked him to park the jeep away from the market place. The inspector is in a bind - at his wits end.
If he goes with the information to the gang head who Prithvi met then it
is cropper for him. He will not come back alive. If he does not and the gang
war breaks out and one of the gangs is badly hit then the other gang leader
will want an account of what happened from him and he will be cropper again.
Seg XI
The inspector calls up both the gang leader heads and informs that Prithvi has organized for a major deployment and additional forces are coming to the town before the gang war date which Prithvi has got a heads up from one of the informants from one of the gangs. He also tells both of them what Prithvi told him about a ploy by one of the gangs to use real bullets but he admits he does not know which as Prithvi did not tell him. The inspector believes taking this approach protects him from both the gang lords.
Seg XII
Prithvi calls the inspector and tells him to go to each gang leader and tell them that he would like a meeting with them as he is aware of their plans to eliminate him and extra forces have been called to address the situation.
He also tells the inspector that whoever does not turn up, he will take it that the person has something to hide and is the one who came up with the idea to eliminate him.
Seg XIII
Prithvi having sown distrust between the two gang leaders discourages them communicating with each other.
Seg XIV
When the two gang lords arrive – alone with no men accompanying them – Prithvi makes them wait in the anteroom as a call from the DIG has come who wants to visit the police station and will be arriving in a day or two having heard of the situation of the planned gang war. He lets the two stew outside for a while studying their discomfort to know if indeed the distrust has been successfully sown.
Seg XV
Then he calls the coastal one and has a general chat of how the industry is doing. He runs a number of diamonds cutting and polishing factories in the town. He is shown respect when he leaves the police premises.
Seg XVI
The drug lord is called in and you can hear heated discussions from the inner room. The inspector summarizes that the gold guy is the one who met with Prithvi. He shares the news with drug lord that the diamond czar has met with Prithvi and they have done a deal.
Seg XVII
The gang war breaks out in earnest with gang members eliminating each other ruthlessly. Some from each are picked up and they decide to squeal on their bosses. Prithvi marshals the additional forces with the DIG on his side and makes a visit to each Gang Lord.
Seg XIX
He repeats his line that he told them that if they don’t come to him, he will have to come to them, but when he does it will be with a cast iron warrant for their arrest. He congratulates the inspector in their presence for the great help he has been and recommends him for the presidential medal.
The gang lords are both led away from their respective plush offices with a large posse in attendance.
Seg XX
The inspector is knocked off by a sharp-shooter from one of the gangs in the marketplace as the credits come on.
Curtains
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