THE SCARECROW (Decoy used to conceal)

{News flash on radio: “In a sensational escape, an offender escaped from police lockup while being taken to a Mumbai court on Monday afternoon.}

Arvind Kumar is a widower and a self made millionaire graduated in third grade; with a diploma in chemical engineering. Adulteration of petrol by using kerosene with viscosity improver, buying tanks of petrol a day before increase in petrol prices and selling it at inflated prices were his means of getting rich. Arvind had an illegitimate daughter which was at loggerhead with him, for his multiple affairs... one being with her own mother whom he had absconded few years back.

Kevin DCosta a freelance photographer is back from Nepal after his expedition of monasteries & Himalayan subtropical pine forests . High on life with SLR zooming in & out, he approaches Arvind at a party. He’s in need of money as his girlfriend is flying to Australia for a BPO job and a travel agent has promised him an immigration visa for some disclosed amount.

Sunil Anand the topper in MBA Finance works as Sales manager for Fastmoney Bank of India. A manipulator throughout his life, he has climbed the corporate ladder in a short span of time. His bank is launching Mutual Fund IPO and needs a huge investor. This will automatically pave his path for promotion as a branch manager with additional perks, provided he lures the patron for investment. Sunil is also guilty of fleecing his female colleague and is the reason of her termination from the bank for a fraud which she didn’t commit.

Part 1

[Mumbai Pune expressway]

White Mercedes with radio crooning an old Kishore Kumar number, a vegetative person with hands tied is lying on the backseat. The driver has ill fitting suit with a cherubic face with the initials A K in bold on the dashboard and suitcase full of cash. Suddenly the cell phone rings to which the reply is “I’ll be there in 15 minutes”. In the middle of this, we see a Red Maruti 800 following the White Mercedes. The nail polish studded fingers on the steering wheel with luscious red lips give us an impression that there is lady driving the car.

Part 2

[Kevin and Arvind casual meeting]

Kevin attends the Achiever clubs award function from where he comes to know that Arvind is planning a gigantic Ad campaign for his firm.Arvind invites Kevin for a five minute conversation, impresses him with his charming talks and promises Kevin for his career changing break. Arvind’s real reason is the bevy of female models in Kevin’s portfolio and formal introduction with them, to which Kevin agrees reluctantly.

Part 3

[Arvind and Sunil official meeting]

Sunil the charmer with his textbook knowledge has this uncanny habit of selecting a high potential customer and preparing multiple accounts with fake documents. He then activates the card, getting all the credit card benefits with additional sales for his bank.

Sunil proposes an investment plan to Arvind which would lead to an increase in market value and thereby an increase in profits. But Arvind the wily fox does a through market study; catches Sunil’s con, informs the police and gets him arrested.

Part 4

[Sunil and Kevin phone call]

Sunil escapes from jail, heads straight to Arvind‘s farmhouse in Khandla.Arvind in an inebriated state blurts out some abuses for which he is attacked by Sunil and held captive. This is before he receives the password and pin numbers for Arvind’s bank account. Suddenly the phone rings with display name flashing Kevin. Sunil introduces him as Arvind’s partner and tells him to meet at Mumbai Pune highway.

Part 5

[The lethal trap]

We come back to Part 1 where Sunil has assumed Arvind’s identity and driving Arvind’s white Mercedes and poor Arvind is lying unconscious with his hands tied down and mouth stuffed with a kerchief. It’s still a mystery as to who’s the lady, who is following the white car. Sunil’s plan is straightforward. He wants to meet Kevin, assume Kevin’s identity, kill Arvind and Kevin and then he will be a be free man with police assuming it’s Sunil the convict who has escaped as dead.

So Sunil will have Arvind’s money and Kevin’s identity and start his life afresh.

Part 6

[The mysterious lady]

We slowly start discovering the lady in Red Maruti 800 is none other than Arvind’s illegitimate daughter…oh wait! She’s the same girl who was fleeced by Sunil and was terminated from the bank. There’s still more to it. She’s Kevin girlfriend whom he met during his call centre stint to earn that extra money. She’s the one who persuaded Kevin to meet Arvind and informed Arvind via third person of Sunil’s scam.

 Part 7

[The final frontier]

Sunil meets Kevin on the highway and charms Kevin with his smooth talks. The idea is to take the car to a cliff and jump from the car during the last few minutes with the suitcase, so that Arvind and Kevin would get killed as the car falls into the valley. However minute before this Kevin receives a call from the mysterious lady (his girlfriend), he jumps from the car with suitcase full of money. In this mean time, Sunil is flabbergasted and tries to stop the car using the brake. The engine conks up because of the adulterated petrol used in the car. The clutch doesn’t work and the car falls in the pit leading to the end of two smart talkers

In the end what an irony... the lady is smiling with tears in her eyes. The tears for that man who played with her emotions-- her father Arvind and the smile for that colleague Sunil who deceived her. She’s walking down the highway hand in hand with Kevin. The lady killed 2 birds with one stone, using her scarecrow Kevin.

**********************THE END*******************