3.31.2005

Main Hoon Na, Part 16

Interrogation room, where a silhouetted Khan is bathed in light from a 10,000 watt bulb. Ram tells Khan that Pakistan is reciprocating India’s offer and wants peace as well. Khan looks at Ram in surprise. Peace? Who the hell wants that? Ram asks what Raghavan can gain by killing innocent children, and Khan says that Raghavan just wants what’s best for his country. Ram says that Raghavan can do nothing for his country, and that Raghavan mistakenly believes that his son was killed in Kashmir by Pakistanis, when in reality, he was killed by terrorists like Khan. Did anyone happen to mention that to Raghavan? And does this mean that there’s a Mrs. Raghavan? Khan says that Ram is lying, and Ram says that Raghavan is lying. If only Mrs. Raghavan were here to settle this. Ram tells Khan that tomorrow he will have to choose between serving his country and serving Raghavan. I guess choosing today wouldn't really make things any easier, logistically speaking.

At the army barracks, Ram marches Khan along a balcony, where naturally he runs into Mrs. Sharma. Ram tells her that she lost her home and her husband because of him, but he won’t let her lose her son. As Ram walks away, she turns to him with tears in her eyes, and tells him that she wants both her sons back. Say yes, Ram, say yes! Ram nods vigorously as she touches his cheek, then he walks away. She sighs tearfully as the rest of the army men follow Ram, thinking that they should probably go call their moms.

Cut to a helicopter, which Ram and several other men approach purposefully. One of them removes Khan’s handcuffs and places them on Ram. Don’t forget the lube! Ram holds up his cuffed hands and looks at Khan intensely. Khan nods and they enter the helicopter.

Raghavan gazes at the arriving helicopter through binoculars as choral music plays. Khan shoves Ram into the gymnasium and forces him to kneel in front of Raghavan. Ram is wearing a blue denim jacket with camouflage sleeves in a stylish example of Indian Army-issued casualwear. Ram asks Raghavan to let the hostages go and says that Pakistan has agreed to release the Indian prisoners. Raghavan whines, “Yeah, yeah, I heard,” sounding as though Ram has just told him for the third time that he can’t play video games until he finishes his homework. Raghavan thinks that this sort of naivete will destroy the country. Ram says that people like Raghavan are what's destroying the country, with their hatred and bloodlust, but that in time there will be peace and friendship with Pakistan. He forgets to mention the making out. Raghavan says no, there will be no friendship with Pakistan, only war, until Pakistan is destroyed. He talks about how his son was killed by Pakistanis, as Khan stands behind him, looking conflicted. Ram says that Raghavan is becoming the person he hates, and Khan becomes animated and tells Ram to shut up. As Ram continues his speech, talking about the innocent lives that Raghavan has taken away, Khan punches him, knocking him down. Ram keeps talking about how Project Milaap will continue, while Khan picks him up off the ground and punches him again. As Ram keeps giving his monologue and Khan keeps punching him, the hostages gasp and look concerned, wondering why Ram isn't making the causal connection between talking and getting punched. Ram says that he has won, that Project Milaap will continue. Khan pulls out his gun and presses it against Ram’s forehead. Raghavan yells at Khan not to shoot, and Khan hesistates for ten ultra-tense minutes. He lowers the gun, then shoots Ram in the arm and the chest. Ram flies backwards ten feet in slow motion as the hostages scream and rise to their feet. Lucky rushes toward Ram, who for a moment levitates four feet above the ground in a perfectly horizontal position with his arms clasped together in front of his chest. He looks a bit like a thirteen-year-old girl playing “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” at a slumber party, except that instead of being dropped, flailing, by giggling seventh-graders who move on to freezing each other’s underwear, he sinks slowly and stiffly to the floor with an odd clunk. Ignore that last sentence if you’ve never been to a thirteen-year-old girl’s slumber party. The camera racks focus from Lucky’s eyes, wide open in shock, to Ram’s closed eyes.
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