Interior. DSP’s Office. Day.
On a front wall of the police station is the fading graffiti: ‘Catch Them By Their Balls, Their Hearts and Minds Will Follow.’
Inside. Haider sits in front of Parvez.
Parvez: The doctor was one of my closest friends..
Haider looks at him sharply.
Parvez: Is… not was… look I don't want to give you any false hope… but the truth is what powers do we the police have over the army?
Haider takes out some photocopied papers from his bag.
Haider: Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Rule 4 of section 5. Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be handed over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay.
Haider looks at Parvez.
Haider: Least possible delay… It’s been twenty days and there’s no word of him.
Parvez smiles sadly.
Parvez: If things worked by the book... do you think Kashmir would have been the hell it is? Pandit Nehru promised Kashmiris a plebiscite with the world as his witness… What happened? Let aside plebiscite... Even the first condition to plebiscite... demilitarization... did not happen.
He laughs at his own joke.
Parvez: (still laughing) Neither India, nor Pakistan...When two elephants fight… it is the grass that is trampled upon. A curse on both their houses!
Haider remains poker-faced.
Haider: I agree, Uncle...But I do want to file a formal report.
Parvez stops laughing and comes closer.
Parvez: Don’t mess with the army, son. If you file a formal report... the chances of finding him will become even more bleak.
A beat on Haider.
Parvez: It's best if we just wait for the doctor to return… silently.
Haider is shocked, he angrily gets up and storms out.
Exterior. DSP’s office
Haider comes out and sees Khurram waiting outside at the reception. He looks at him, but doesn’t stop. Khurram follows him.
Khurram: Haider... Hear me out...
Haider keeps walking angrily. Khurram catches up with him and grabs Haider’s shoulder to turn him around.
Khurram: Who are you angry with? And why? He's not simply your father... he’s my brother as well… my only brother...
Haider looks away. Khurram turns his face around, gently this time.
Khurram: After weeks, your mother managed a smile. She had been crying herself out for hours. And you accuse us of singing and dancing in joy?
He takes out the newspaper from his pocket, announcing his election candidature.
Khurram: Take a look. I am running for office. I am contesting the elections. Would you care to know why? Would you?
Haider: Why?
Khurram: For my brother. Who else! Once I’m in power... I’ll search every prison and get him home.
Haider: Uncle, you can wait to fight the elections. My fight has already begun.
Khurram watches as Haider walks away while a painful melody kicks in on the soundtrack. A song of ‘search’ plays in the background…
Exterior: Village stationery store. Day.
Haider is at a shop with a photograph of Hilaal. It’s the one he found at home - Ghazala has been torn out. Several cyclostyled copies of the photo are made. Arshia and Haider paste the copies of the photo on various walls.
Exterior: CRPF Station Compound - Day
Several people stand in line with photographs of ‘disappeared’ men, a CRPF officer walks by slowly inspecting the photographs, he is stone-faced. Haider is last in line. The officer stops on seeing Hilaal’s photo, he looks at Haider. A beat. He nods in the negative.
Interior: Jail waiting room - day
Haider stares at the photograph. An old woman sitting beside him sees Hilaal’s photo. Their eyes meet, she smiles at him, runs her shrivelled hand over his head and shows him a picture of her young son. They share a sad smile.
He looks up and sees a dozen other people in the same room, with similar photographs of their loved ones. A sudden sense of a reality check hits him.
Exterior: Army camp - day
Barbed wire and armed soldiers surround the walls of this impenetrable military camp. Haider walks up to the gate with his rucksack on his back. A couple of jawans standing in a bunker order him to stop. Haider is cold and doesn’t respond to their threats. The soldiers warn him again, but as there is no response, they approach him with guns pointed, alarmed. Haider raises his arms as he is pinned to the ground. The soldiers hurriedly search his back; nothing but photocopies of Hilaal’s photo pour out.
Interior: CRPF camp - day
Arshia and Haider are inside the cabin of a CRPF officer, going through an album full of photos of men.
Exterior: Lake - day
A distraught Haider and Arshia sit on the banks of a lake. They watch some children play on the ice. He is emotionless, just watching them blankly as she gently caresses his hair.
Excerpted with permission from Haider: The Original Screenplay, by Vishal Bharadwaj and Basharat Peer, Harper-Collins India.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
On a front wall of the police station is the fading graffiti: ‘Catch Them By Their Balls, Their Hearts and Minds Will Follow.’
Inside. Haider sits in front of Parvez.
Parvez: The doctor was one of my closest friends..
Haider looks at him sharply.
Parvez: Is… not was… look I don't want to give you any false hope… but the truth is what powers do we the police have over the army?
Haider takes out some photocopied papers from his bag.
Haider: Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Rule 4 of section 5. Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be handed over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay.
Haider looks at Parvez.
Haider: Least possible delay… It’s been twenty days and there’s no word of him.
Parvez smiles sadly.
Parvez: If things worked by the book... do you think Kashmir would have been the hell it is? Pandit Nehru promised Kashmiris a plebiscite with the world as his witness… What happened? Let aside plebiscite... Even the first condition to plebiscite... demilitarization... did not happen.
He laughs at his own joke.
Parvez: (still laughing) Neither India, nor Pakistan...When two elephants fight… it is the grass that is trampled upon. A curse on both their houses!
Haider remains poker-faced.
Haider: I agree, Uncle...But I do want to file a formal report.
Parvez stops laughing and comes closer.
Parvez: Don’t mess with the army, son. If you file a formal report... the chances of finding him will become even more bleak.
A beat on Haider.
Parvez: It's best if we just wait for the doctor to return… silently.
Haider is shocked, he angrily gets up and storms out.
Exterior. DSP’s office
Haider comes out and sees Khurram waiting outside at the reception. He looks at him, but doesn’t stop. Khurram follows him.
Khurram: Haider... Hear me out...
Haider keeps walking angrily. Khurram catches up with him and grabs Haider’s shoulder to turn him around.
Khurram: Who are you angry with? And why? He's not simply your father... he’s my brother as well… my only brother...
Haider looks away. Khurram turns his face around, gently this time.
Khurram: After weeks, your mother managed a smile. She had been crying herself out for hours. And you accuse us of singing and dancing in joy?
He takes out the newspaper from his pocket, announcing his election candidature.
Khurram: Take a look. I am running for office. I am contesting the elections. Would you care to know why? Would you?
Haider: Why?
Khurram: For my brother. Who else! Once I’m in power... I’ll search every prison and get him home.
Haider: Uncle, you can wait to fight the elections. My fight has already begun.
Khurram watches as Haider walks away while a painful melody kicks in on the soundtrack. A song of ‘search’ plays in the background…
Exterior: Village stationery store. Day.
Haider is at a shop with a photograph of Hilaal. It’s the one he found at home - Ghazala has been torn out. Several cyclostyled copies of the photo are made. Arshia and Haider paste the copies of the photo on various walls.
Exterior: CRPF Station Compound - Day
Several people stand in line with photographs of ‘disappeared’ men, a CRPF officer walks by slowly inspecting the photographs, he is stone-faced. Haider is last in line. The officer stops on seeing Hilaal’s photo, he looks at Haider. A beat. He nods in the negative.
Interior: Jail waiting room - day
Haider stares at the photograph. An old woman sitting beside him sees Hilaal’s photo. Their eyes meet, she smiles at him, runs her shrivelled hand over his head and shows him a picture of her young son. They share a sad smile.
He looks up and sees a dozen other people in the same room, with similar photographs of their loved ones. A sudden sense of a reality check hits him.
Exterior: Army camp - day
Barbed wire and armed soldiers surround the walls of this impenetrable military camp. Haider walks up to the gate with his rucksack on his back. A couple of jawans standing in a bunker order him to stop. Haider is cold and doesn’t respond to their threats. The soldiers warn him again, but as there is no response, they approach him with guns pointed, alarmed. Haider raises his arms as he is pinned to the ground. The soldiers hurriedly search his back; nothing but photocopies of Hilaal’s photo pour out.
Interior: CRPF camp - day
Arshia and Haider are inside the cabin of a CRPF officer, going through an album full of photos of men.
Exterior: Lake - day
A distraught Haider and Arshia sit on the banks of a lake. They watch some children play on the ice. He is emotionless, just watching them blankly as she gently caresses his hair.
Excerpted with permission from Haider: The Original Screenplay, by Vishal Bharadwaj and Basharat Peer, Harper-Collins India.