Film Synopsis - A Thought to Chew Over

Synopsis #15

Title:    A Thought to Chew Over

Idea:    Threat Cover

Plot:     Kabir befriends a Rodent and they become ‘wire and cable’ czars attracting their share of enemies who need to be countered with superior fire-power

Genre: Animation

Script Regn No (SWA): 43911

Membership No: 49484

Seg 1

Kabir had an anxious ride on an outstation trip. It was early morning. He had not noticed until he had done few odd kms that the engine icon on the dashboard was glowing. Instinctively, he tapped on the dashboard glass hoping that the glow will cease with the tap. Nothing of the sort happened. He knew something was wrong. The pickup too was stalling. It was short outstation trip of 3 hours one way for a business purpose. He managed to complete the trip and took it to the service station.

Seg 2

The technician opened the Toyota Innova hood. He noted the wires were chewed and had come unhinged from the plug-like device that powered the engine. He corrected it and wrapped the wires with insulation tape. The car ran fine. But that was not the point. The risk of the situation repeating was Kabir’s concern.

Seg 3

Every morning thereafter Kabir opened the hood of his Toyota Innova – an MUV – to check the state of the vehicle. He found rat turd on the flat surfaces on each side and some under the car. The rat had made his base under the car hood.

Seg 4

The morning routine continued until one day sitting bang and centre on top of the engine was Mr Rod. Momentarily frozen. Surprised that somebody had the key to his house.

Seg 5

Kabir looked at Mr Rod – the Rodent – and Mr Rod looked at Kabir. After a bit Mr Rod looked away. He appeared sedated. Woken up from a deep sleep.  

Seg 6

Mr Rod looked well-fed. His long tail lay motionless. Neither of them knew what to do. Kabir was holding up the hood. He had no time to hook it to the stand. At that moment it was not clear who was surrendering to whom. Neither was it clear who was the intruder. Kabir or Mr Rod.

Seg 7

Mr Rod survival instincts kicked in. In a flash he was gone. But something happened at that moment. They had connected. Kabir and Mr Rod. 

Seg 8

Since the anxious moments of the outstation trip, Kabir’s mind was busy devising plans of laying traps to put a swift end to the rodent nuisance. It was not in consideration anymore.

Seg 9

Instead he was thinking how he can persuade Mr Rod that he is free to make his home under his Innova hood but he cannot chew the wires and he cannot litter. Also, better sanitary habits were expected of him. Kabir impressed on Mr Rod the 1 BHK does not come with an attached bathroom. For that he needs to step out somewhere bushy.

Seg 10

It became a routine with Kabir and with Mr Rod. Kabir would open the hood. He would greet Mr Rod. Kabir would ask him if he enjoyed the cheese block he had left for him on the flat recess under the hood. Mr Rod would nod his head. Kabir would check the wires to see that all was ship-shape. He checked for droppings. There was none.

Seg 11

When Kabir wanted to drive the car he would open the hood and tell Mr Rod that he has to excuse him. He needs the car. Rod needs to find someplace else for his siesta. It did cross Kabir’s mind to invite Rod into the cabin. He dropped the idea immediately. It wasn’t that they were back-slapping friends or anything close, yet.

Seg 12

Kabir figured for the hospitality he was offering Mr Rod, he might as well ask him for his help to get rid of the mice in his basement and in the kitchen. Rod readily obliged. He had a word with the mice. Next time he sees them around the area he would make a meal of them.

Seg 13

Kabir who was a network engineer discovered that his monitor in his office and that of his colleagues in his cubicle were acting funny. He sensed that he had a rat problem in the server room. There was a short power breakdown the previous night including that of the power back-up. The server room was so stifling without air-conditioning that one of his staff had opened the window to get some fresh air in but forgot to latch it when the power was restored. That was enough for an opportunistic rodent to find his way to the room gifted as they are with sharp sense of smell.

Seg 14

Kabir had a word with Rod. He asked him what is it with their tribe and wires. Rod countered. What is it with man and toothbrush? Kabir clarified. You mean wires and its sheeting is the toothpaste and brush for rats for cleaning their teeth by chewing on them? Rod said, yes, like in the villages, the folks use the branch or stalk of a plant to brush their teeth.  

Seg 15

Kabir probed further. He asked Rod if he was averse to any taste or smell. Rod said they cannot handle spice and hate the smell of jasmine. Kabir further queried. What if Kabir did not want Rod living under the hood of the car, did all that Kabir had to do was spray some chili powder and jasmine under the hood?

Seg 16

Rod looked hurt and devastated. He had just evicted himself out of his house with the inadvertent disclosure. He felt betrayed. He pleaded with Kabir that they had a deal. That Rod gets to stay under the hood and the mice stay out of Kabir’s kitchen.

Seg 17

Kabir said, “Chill”. Rod said that’s another thing they hate. That’s why they like staying in the warmth of the car hood. Kabir told Rod to relax. He was not about to pepper him.

Seg 18

Kabir always wanted to get into business. He patented the special chemical coating that can be applied to wire and cable with a hint of spice and smell of jasmine. He contracted with a wire manufacturer to make wire and cables out of his patented chemical mix.

Seg 19

He provided free ‘spiced up and jasmined’ wire and cable installations at companies which had a rat problem including car companies as proof of concept with the assurance that if it worked for them the next order for wires and cables will be placed with him.

Seg 20

Kabir became rich and prosperous with his business taking off like a rocket. He became the wire and cable czar. He bought other vehicles as his wealth grew. However, the Toyota Innova he retained. It was Rod’s house. His success was as much Rod’s success who had shared the most intimate of rat secrets with him. The secret of their dental hygiene. Kabir ensured that Rod could have as much of the older version of wires – as nobody wanted them anymore.

Seg 21

Rod began trading in these old wires. He set up a distribution chain. He became a wire and cable czar in his own right in his rodent community.

Seg 22

Vowel the Owl watched with interest Rod’s growing empire. On many an occasion, Rod was only inches from his grasp. With prosperity Rod became stodgy too. He was not his alert self, nor was he swift on his feet.

Seg 23

One evening when Rod was on a leisurely stroll, Vowel the Owl got hold of him. Normally, Vowel would have crushed his head with his talon. But this time he just picked him and took him to a safe place. 

Seg 24

It had been a while since Rod suffered a fright. He was shaken, stirred and stunted with Vowel looming over him. When he recovered and sensed that Vowel did not mean him harm, he composed himself. He looked up at what Vowel was pointing to. It was Shock the Hawk. He almost had him. But Vowel swiftly moved in and scooped up Rod. Finally, Vowel the Owl got one over Shock the Hawk.

Seg 25

Rod thanked Vowel for saving his life. He asked Vowel to what does he owe such merciful generosity on Vowel’s part. Vowel said that he had been tracking Rod for a long time. Shock the Hawk had beaten him to every prey they had hunted. Each time Vowel had to go to bed hungry. It felt good this one time to get one over Shock the Hawk.

Seg 26

Rod said it gladdened him to have been source of joy and achievement to Vowel. He asked Vowel if he could be excused and be on his way. Vowel said not, just, yet. He could get hungry any moment. He was not in a mood to hunt anymore this evening.

Seg 27

Rod said that Vowel need not worry about being hungry anymore. He could have the choicest of dishes at any of his chain of restaurants. Vowel enquired to what does he owe such a generous offer from Rod. Rod said that his prosperity had also brought him enemies in spades. The local gang of fat cats were a constant threat. He had to keep paying them protection money. Rod said he would like Vowel to be his eyes, ears, brain, and to occasionally put his talons to good use too. In return he can dine for free whenever he wants and whatever he wants.

Seg 28

Vowel in his wisdom thought it was a win-win idea. Vowel also liked to dress and live well and asked for clothes, accommodation and few other comforts. Rod agreed to all of Vowel’s demands. It was not that he had much of a heft at that moment for hard negotiations. There is only one thing Rod did not want to be. Vowel’s next meal.

Seg 29

Kabir had similar issues. The wire and cable lobby were not too pleased with Kabir’s domination of the industry. For generations they had held an iron-like grip on the industry. So tight was their control that it was very difficult for anyone from outside their community to get a break into this industry.

Seg 30

Kabir’s entry was tentative and inconsequential until of course it took off like a bat out of hell. At first, the lobby argued that it was good for their industry because of the need it served with the innovation of protecting the wires and cables from rat raids. 

Seg 31

Kabir owned the patent. When the demand accelerated there was very little that they could do to stop it. The larger share of the profits was going to Kabir because spiced and jasmine minted wire and cable had become the standard. It was an absurdity too. The lobby of manufacturers was putting in the hard work and capital and taking all the risks. Kabir was reaping the profits with no risks whatsoever. They felt some risk needed to be created for Kabir.

Seg 32

While Rod had to contend with fat cats, Kabir had to contend with goons who were harassing his girlfriend and her family who owned large tracts of land in the suburbs of the city with veiled and not yet open threats.  

Seg 33

Kabir would often dine with Rod in his restaurant. Lately Vowel also joined in. Kabir shared his issue with the goons with Rod and Vowel.

Seg 34

Just then the fat cats entered the restaurant and so did the goons. It seemed like they had arrived at a pact. Both were in the business of extortion. The restaurant door flew open again. Shock the Hawk walked in and slid into a sofa in the corner of the room from where he could have a wide-angle view of the whole restaurant. 

Seg 35

The fat cats ordered a fish meal with salmon, shrimps, prawns and many side dishes and drinks. They finished the meal and asked for the check. When the bill was brought, they told the waiter to hand it over to Rod. On it was written that a ten percent hike on their protection money is due. For this month the hearty meal took care of it.

Seg 36

The thugs too had a grand meal. When they are served the bill they said the food was horrid. They will not pay a penny for it. They look around to see if anybody had an issue with that. None did. They get up and leave giving Kabir a hard look.

Seg 37

Shock the Hawk finishes his meal of rare steak. He saunters across to Vowel the Owl and says the bill is on Vowel for depriving him of his meal some days back. Shock the Hawk casts a hard look at Rod. He leaves with an unlit cigar in his mouth. The die for battle is cast. 

---INTERMISSION---

Seg 38

Kabir, Rod the Rodent and Vowel the Owl agree that they need to combat the threat posed by the fat cats, the thugs of wire and cable lobby, and from Shock the Hawk.

Seg 39

Vowel the Owl, as part of the trio’s agreement, is mandated to keep a watch on the thugs. It works for him as their activity and his active hours are the same. In the thick of the night.

Seg 40

Not too long into his watch, Vowel the Owl finds the thugs at the house of a prominent jeweler who keeps his most precious jewelry at home. The fat cats are with the thugs (so they have a pact). The thugs’ local area ‘watch’ informed them that the residents were out on a holiday. He had seen them leave with luggage earlier in the day.

Seg 41

The modus operandi: the fat cats distract the two ferocious Rottweilers by teasing them from the walls. The guard is hit with a coconut (seemingly fallen from the tree above). The thugs pole vault into the house compound and on to the balcony of the house.

Seg 42

The thugs swiftly dismantle the balcony door into the house – both wooden and metal – with sophisticated bolt turning equipment.  The local area ‘watch’ in collusion with the electricity sub-station organizes a power shutdown. The surveillance of the house including the house’s plan stolen from the architect’s office provided the thugs with the lay of the house including where the power backup and CCTV were installed. The safe is built into the wall.

Seg 43

The same power shut down operation occurs at the local police station. Their system shuts down. There is a complete blackout of the robbery.

Seg 39

The Vowel the Owl informs Rod the Rodent about the ongoing operation. Rod the Rodent gets to the house in quick time and steals into the house with the masked thugs. The thugs swiftly have the safe open. They take only the most expensive and small-sized diamond jewelry. Easy to carry in their bag pack. Not too heavy as they need to pole vault the way from the balcony to the grounds and then over the walls.

Seg 40

When the safe breaker finishes his work, he removes the gloves he is wearing and the cloth that he used to wipe out any other marks from the operation and leaves it on the bench in order to visit the bathroom.  

Seg 41

Rod the Rodent, who till then did not why he was there, seizes the moment and squirrels away the gloves and the cloth and makes his exit from the slightly ajar balcony door. He hands it over to Vowel the Owl who asks him what is he supposed to do with the items. Rod says he does not know. At the spur of that moment, Rod said he felt that he should take something away from the visit to the house. The gloves and the cloth were handed to him on a platter in a manner of speaking. It was some kind of proof that he was there. Vowel takes the glove and the cloth home and packs it for safety in a zip lock plastic bag.   

Seg 42

The safebreaker back from his bathroom looks for the gloves and cloth. He assumes his fellow thugs would have taken it when they cleaned out the place and headed to the exit to repair the door and pole vault their way out.

Seg 43

A van comes by and the thugs are whisked away. The power is restored. The cats with a last growl at the rottweilers also head home. The guard recovers and sees the coconut lying nearby. He is disoriented and embarrassed.

Seg 44

Jeweler gets back home after three days. He discovers the break-in. He is a close relative of the Home Minister of the state. All hell breaks loose at police headquarters. The top cops are alerted of the break-in by the home minister.

Seg 45

The sleuths arrive at the home with the police dog, Tunga, the Doberman Pinscher, who has a reputation for tracking down criminals if provided with any object used by the culprits. Also capable of running 12 kms at a trot when most Doberman can run about 5-6 kms only. He has a handler who is a constable just as fit to run miles to track down a criminal by the smell of the object that they have left behind. An Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) Mr Pandey is assigned to the case.

Seg 46

The break-in was a masterclass in executing robbery. The police could not detect any clue to pursue. ACP Pandey comes under tremendous pressure from his boss and the higher ups who call him directly to crack the case and crack it fast. The case also becomes political with the Home Minister’s connection with the jeweler who does not have a great reputation. He has been implicated in gold smuggling case earlier though not convicted.

Seg 47

Kabir and Pandey are good friends. They had been in college together. They are having a drink in Rod the Rodent’s restaurant and bar. ACP Pandey shares the pressure that he is under to crack the case. Rod overhears the conversation. He calls Kabir aside and tells him that Vowel and Owl and he were at the crime site. Vowel the Owl was keeping an eye on the thugs based on what they agreed at their ‘counter attack strategy’ meeting. They have the glove and the cloth used by the safebreaker which intuitively Rod felt would be useful in the future. Not the whole truth but close. Rod gives the glove and the cloth secured in a plastic bag to Kabir. Kabir introduces Rod the Rodent and Vowel the Owl to ACP Pandey.

Seg 48

ACP Pandey calls his team and the handler of the police dog Tunga, the Doberman Pinscher. They arrive and there is a general round of introduction. Rod the Rodent in particular is glad to make the acquaintance of Tunga the Doberman. Rod extends an invitation to Tunga to come over whenever he is free for a meal at his restaurant. Rod imagines himself dining with Tunga and the impression it will create on the fat cats when they come to collect their protection money.

Seg 49

ACP Pandey with help of Tunga tracks down the thugs. They are rounded up and questioned. They tell ACP Pandey that the jewelry was sold to the president of the wire and cables lobby. The person who had sent the thugs to threaten Kabir’s girlfriend and her family who owned large tracts of land in the suburbs of the city. The president is picked up for questioning. ACP Pandey says he will book the president under less draconian laws provided he gets off Kabir’s case, now and forever and make sure his friends in the lobby also get the message.

Seg 50

The lobby does even better. Kabir gets the franchise from the lobby to expands his business to the middle east. He makes friends with a sheik in the UAE who becomes the distributor for Kabir’s ‘spiced and jasmine scented’ wire and cable products for all of UAE.

Seg 51

As a show of affection, the sheik gifts Kabir a falcon. Kabir gets a demonstration of the falcon’s swifter maneuvers in flight. The jury is out, in a pitched battle with a hawk, who will come up tops. A hawk kills with his talons. A falcon grabs with his talons but kills it’s prey with its beak. Kabir calls the falcon Beko for its intimidating beak. He finds the gift timely.

Seg 52

ACP Pandey and his boss want to felicitate Rod the Rodent and Vowel the Owl for helping them crack the case. The surprise felicitation is to be at Rod the Rodent’s restaurant. Tunga, the Doberman Pinscher is also invited by the ACP for the felicitation.

Seg 53

ACP Pandey through Kabir asks that Rod the Rodent, and Vowel the Owl to be present in the restaurant. 

Seg 54

The fat cats choose just that day to make their second month 10% hike collection. They take their seats in the favorite corner and place the usual order and drinks for a sumptuous meal. The usual bonhomie that comes from ‘treat this place like home’ is pervading their order and laughter.

Seg 55

Shock the Hawk, with his usual swagger of a gunslinger, also decides to make his entry that day just to remind Vowel the Owl and Rod the Rodent that he is still around. He takes his place at his favorite corner of the restaurant from where he can watch everyone. He orders his steak. A double steak. He had a long flight. Also, he had no intention to pay.

Seg 56

Kabir, his constant companion now, Beko the Falcon, Rod the Rodent, and Vowel the Owl are at the table. The door opens. The Commissioner of Police and ACP Pandey along with Tunga the Doberman enter the restaurant and join Kabir and rest at the table.

Seg 57

The places around the table are set in such a way that Tunga faces the fat cats, Beko the Falcon faces the Shock the Hawk. The Commissioner of Police gives a short speech and puts medals around Rod the Rodent, Vowel the Owl and Tunga the Doberman.

Seg 58

A sudden silence falls around the restaurant. All eyes are on the ceremony. The fat cats and Shock the Hawk hurry through their meal. The waiter serves them their respective bills. Without hesitation they pay up the bill and head to the door of the restaurant their eyes focused on the exit.

Seg 59

There is clinking of glass at the celebratory table.

Curtains.