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EPISODE 1: "Pinocchio"

What is the story of Pinocchio series?

A young man whose family is torn apart by a tragedy, who assumes a different identity and attempts to rebuild his life. A young woman who suffers from a condition that causes her to hiccup whenever she tells a lie.

The date is October 8, 2005, and a small-town high school is aflutter with the news that their smartest student has made it to the second round of a TV quiz show program. The whole class gathers to watch their classmate on TV, and the show introduces his next challenger... Shaurya, he of the shaggy hair, finger guns, and 34th-place ranking. His intro montage is a sight to behold, and every single jaw in the classroom drops. No one is more shocked than his classmate Anokhi, who scoffs in amazement that Shaurya looks like a total country bumpkin, but seems to be unaware that he should be embarrassed. Shaurya takes his place onstage and feels the need to point out that his entire school has 34 students, which technically makes him last place. He's known as All Bbang, as in all zeroes, because those are his grades. At the monitors, the PD turns to his staff like they're crazy people for bringing this kid here. The first question is about a condition named after a fairytale character that causes someone to show physical signs when they're lying-in this case, the hiccups. (The story points out that the specific condition is made up. We just accept it as a truth in this universe.) Shaurya remains silent, then says he wants to use his ask-a-friend chance. He suddenly turns to his classmate, the champion, and says that if he destroys him here, he wants to hit him ten times; if he loses, he'll take the hits. Ha, this is what he's using his chance card for? With the bet in place, Shaurya uses his remaining time to address the camera: "Anokhi! If I become the champion here..." Dramatic music builds, and then he runs out of time. What were you going to say? Shaurya has no problem answering the question, since he's known all along : "Pinocchio." He waves at first place with a smile on his face, all C'mere so I can crush you. The MC asks if he's ever met anyone with Pinocchio syndrome before, and says that many people with the condition become afraid of people and spare their words because they can't lie. But Shaurya says the Pinocchio he knows is the total opposite-she talks a lot, and because she says whatever she wants, her nickname is Blunt Witch. Everyone in class looks over at Anokhi, and she declares that he isn't talking about her... and then hiccups. Hee. The next quiz question is about what year it is in the sexagenary cycle, and Shaurya flashes back to October 7, 2000, when Dad used to quiz him about that very thing. (Shaurya's name back then is Karan, but I'm just going to keep calling him Shaurya.) He and his Yash think the calculations are easy, and Dad leaps to his feet to take rice cakes to all their new neighbors, dragging his two genius sons around and making them do calculations in their heads like a traveling party trick. It's cute that both brothers hate it but always come through for Dad, and he even rouses them from sleep one night to do a calculation, promising to take them to the fireworks show. They shoot up out of bed immediately and shout the answer. Dad is a firefighter and the captain of his unit, and brags about his sons proudly to his team. That night, an emergency call sends the unit out, and they arrive at a factory that's already ablaze. The manager comes running out and tells the firefighters that two of his employees are still trapped inside, and Dad draws out a plan for them to begin the search. The firefighters split up, and Dad takes the toughest door to get open, which happens to house chemicals. The worst part is, the plant manager turns around to find his two employees safe and sound outside-they're the ones who accidentally started the fire trying to cook a snack, and ran out unnoticed. But the manager sent ALL of those fire-fighters inside to look for them...But inside, Dad doesn't know any of this, and the chemicals on the other side of the door have caught fire. When he finally gets it pried open, all we see is the horrified look on his face, and the explosion reflected in his eyes. Gaaaack. The blast engulfs the entire factory in flames. By morning, the fire has been put out, and the site is swarming with reporters. Shaurya and his family stand behind the police line, screaming for Dad and desperate for answers about the nine deceased firefighters. We get the report from a few competing news stations, but the two we're concerned with are Shubh Savera, where our current quiz show PD Shaan is the field reporter, and Jagruk Nation, where the ace reporter is Devi. We learn that Devi is cold and calculating right off the bat - she wears a mask while reporting to "add realism," and then takes a call from her husband about where he left the divorce papers by replying loudly that a witness was spotted nearby. It's a tactic, of course, to send her competitors off on a wild goose chase while they get the scoop from victims' families. Meanwhile, the factory manager lies through his teeth at the police station, and insists that he told the firefighter captain that there was no one left inside the building, but he stormed in anyway. He then tells his employees to keep their mouths shut, and they'll be fine as long as the captain is dead. One of them worries that he could still turn up alive since he's missing, but the manager guesses they can't find the body because he was blown up in the blast. Lightning strikes and the sky turns dark as they make their pact.As the rain comes down, one of the family's neighbors - a young man with Pinocchio syndrome - thinks he sees Dad running down the street. He tells his mother that he just saw the firefighter captain alive, even though we see that it's not Dad. The news hits the family at the worst possible moment - when they're with the other victims' families, who are crying over their lost sons and husbands. Young Shaurya is naturally relieved to hear the announcement that Dad was seen alive, but the victims turn to the family and demand answers: Why did Dad drag the others inside when there weren't any survivors to be rescued? How could he be alive when the others have died? It's brutal the way Shaurya's family immediately becomes the guilty party, and Yash balls his hand into a fist to see Mom apologizing profusely that her husband survived alone. He leads Mom and Shaurya out, while the victims' families claw at them for answers. A few days later, their house is swarming with reporters, and the boys get flanked on their way out to school with questions about why their father hasn't come forward-is he in hiding, and does that mean he's guilty? Shubh Savera's Shaan and Jagruk Nation's Devi are among them, and Devi is especially relentless, as she asks littleShaurya if he's happy that his father is alive. Are you actually trying to make a little boy sound like he's dancing on the grave of the other firefighters? Damn, you're cold. But Shaurya just shout back the names of the deceased firefighters, along with their birthdays, their allergies, their family situations, what girl groups they like, and the way they take their coffee. He says he's memorized them all, because these facts are posted all over their house in every room. Tears stream down his face as he screams, "I can recite them all, just like my father! You say he abandoned his men and hid? He's not someone who would ever do that!" It's a powerful moment, and everyone is moved by the speech-everyone, that is, except Devi, who remains emotionless and dogged in her questions. Yash argues that they're just rumors (that Dad is still alive), and someone from the crowd throws an egg atShaurya. Yash flares up and yells at them to stop filming, and Shaurya looks up at Devi with anger and hurt in his eyes. At Jagruk Nation, Devi's team wants to cut out the Yash's rant, but she wants to keep it all in. She argues that they can just pixelate his face, as if that would do anything to hide his identity. Over at Shubh Savera, Shaan tries to convince his boss that they should put the footage out too-that's what Jagruk Nation is doing. But the boss says that's why they get called MSG, because they're inflammatory and bad for your health. Shaan argues that Shubh Savera gets called organic news, and his boss counters that that's a compliment. Shaan doesn't think so, since no one cares about health when the food tastes bad and you have no customers: "News that no one watches isn't news!" Sadly, it's a valid point. We intercut between the two teams' arguments, as both Devi and Shaan try to argue for airing the footage of the boys. Their argument is that Dad is almost certainly alive and therefore guilty, but Shaan's boss at Shubh Savera just counters that if he's 99% sure that he's alive, it means he's acknowledging that he's 1% shy of it being fact. Devi tells her team that impact is more important than facts, and the nine victims' families need a place to put the blame. So you're just going to deliver two teenage boys on a silver platter for them to throw stones at? That's exactly what she does, as she reports the story with the assumption that Dad is alive, and in hiding because he's guilty. Things get worse for the family in the ensuing days, andShaurya tells Yash that Mom couldn't buy anything at the local market again, because no one would sell to her. Yash regularly cleans up eggs and rocks thrown at their house, but keeps a brave face for his little brother. Shaurya asks hesitantly what if it's all true, the things they're saying about Dad. Yash promises that Dad will return and reveal the truth, and they'll go to the fireworks show together just like he promised. He pinky-swears the same way Dad used to do, and Shaurya asks again to be sure that Yash isn't lying to him. Some days later, Shaurya is convinced that Yash lied, because he hasn't been home for days. He thinks Yash ran away, when in truth he's been camped out outside Jagruk Nation to demand a meeting with reporter Devi. Mom tamps down her tears and offers to take Shaurya to the fireworks show, so they go just the two of them. Shaurya watches the show excitedly, but Mom only stares down at the water with a faraway look in her eye. Oh no. Yash sees the fireworks from the station, and looks down at the firefighter's award in his hand, thinking of Dad. Devi finally comes out to meet him, and he says he's here because he wants to give an interview. So she takes him inside the studio and he gives a statement on camera, which we don't get to hear. Mom buys Shaurya little fireworks of his own, and takes him to the ocean that night. He lights them happily, not aware that anything is wrong. After a little while, Mom turns to him and says shakily, "Let's go meet your father..." The next thing we know, the only things that remain on the cliff are a suicide note, a sneaker, and the fireworks. By morning the cliff is lined with cops and reporters, and Yash runs to the scene in a daze. He picks up his little brother's shoe and Mom's suicide note in tears, and his blood boils to see the reporters buzzing like flies, hungry to suck more sensational news out of his family's tragedy. He flips his lid and just attacks anyone holding a camera. And even through that, Devi tells her team to keep filming. He lurches at her screaming at the top of his lungs, and for the first time, she looks a little disturbed. Five months later. March, 2001 Little Anokhi gets prodded by her father to answer his question truthfully. She doesn't want to, but she complies and says she regrets living with Dad after the divorce, because if she had lived with Mom, maybe she wouldn't have to move to this stupid island in the middle of nowhere to live with Grandpa, who has Alzheimer's. Dad scowls and walks away from her, and she just sighs that she said she didn't want to answer. She tells herself it'll be okay-she won't develop a country accent, and life on the island won't be so bad-but hiccups nonstop. She pouts all the way to Grandpa's rustic country home, and Grandpa greets them eagerly, surprising them by seeming pretty sharp. But the first sign of his dementia shows when he looks up at the clock and says it's time for Dad's brother to come home, and Dad looks over at him quizzically: "You mean, Big Brother ?" Grandpa lights up and says he's here, and down the road, we see little Karan/Shaurya alive and well. He runs up to Grandpa and gives him a big hug, calling him father. Grandpa introduces Dad and Anokhi as his little brother and niece, and insists that Shaurya should call Dad by his name, Ramesh. LOL. Dad and Anokhi just stand there agape, as Shaurya does as told without so much as an ounce of hesitation. He uses banmal(casual language) with Dad like he's really his Yash, and pats Anokhi on the head and calls her cute, even though he has to stand on his tiptoes to do so. Inside, Grandpa explains that he went out on a boat one night and rescued Shaurya, and Dad reminds him that Yash died thirty years ago. Grandpa knows, but believes that he's been returned to them alive. Dad and Anokhi set him right against Shaurya's protests, and suddenly Grandpa remembers the truth and collapses. Shaurya runs out to take care of him, and tells Dad that Grandpa doesn't have Alzheimer's-the doctor said it's a trauma-related condition and his memory is stuck, and any time he tries to reconcile past and present, it's too taxing for him and he collapses. Dad argues that they can't have some stranger pretending to be Grandpa's son just to keep him from collapsing, and Shaurya asks why not: "I need a father, and he needs a son."In fact, Grandpa already adopted him as his firstborn, with the help of the town's mayor. Shaurya says he has no other family and Grandpa will only keep collapsing like this, "So what's wrong with a little lie?!" Aw, from the boy who used to believe so firmly in his father's word, it's a little heartbreaking. Shaurya asks to play the part of his son just until Grandpa gets better, and asks to be allowed to stay. By dinnertime, Grandpa is awake and feeling better, and Shaurya uses the numbered quadrant system he's drawn on Grandpa's jacket to scratch his back. They're so sweet together, and we see Dad's heart softening. He asksAnokhi if she can call that kid uncle, and she asks how she's supposed to do that when he's so little. Dad counters that he'd have to call him Yash. Ha, I agree-that's worse. He wonders if she can manage to say it without hiccupping, and she says she can since legally, he's her uncle. They agree to play along for now, believing that Grandpa will get better in no time, and then they can send Shaurya to an orphanage. Dad catches Anokhi looking longingly at the TV, and he snaps at her that the TV doesn't work here, so she can just put the idea out of her head to see Mom that way. She scowls and stalks off without eating, and lies that she isn't hungry. As Shaurya sits in front of the fire that night, he thinks back to that night on the cliff, when Mom said that she knew where Dad was and that they'd go to him. He characteristically asked if it was a lie, and she swore it wasn't. He sheds a tear in the present, calling her a liar, then adds that he's no different from her now. Anokhi comes by smelling the sweet potatoes that he's cooking, and tells him that she'll call him Uncle in front of Grandpa, but elsewhere his name will be Hey You. She calls him a shark sucker, describing a parasite that feeds off of others, but then he has fun catching her in the lie that she isn't hungry and points out that she's the one eating other people's food. She sighs and admits that he's right, which surprises him. But she says she has Pinocchio syndrome, and that no matter how much it annoys her that he's right, she can't lie. She catches him staring at her and asks blatantly if he thinks she's pretty, and he answers just as bluntly that she is. She flips her pigtails and says she takes after her pretty mom, who's on TV all the time. She misses her like crazy and wants nothing more than to be able to see Mom on TV, but it's broken and there's no way Dad will fix it. The next morning, Shaurya grabs the wire hangers off the clothesline and gets to work building a new antenna, and climbs onto the roof to install it. It's adorably in the shape of a little girl with pigtails, and he feels satisfied that he got to do something nice for Anokhi. Anokhi is currently sending a secret text message to Mom on Dad's cell phone while he's out (about how she hates the island but thinks she's found someone to grow attached to), and Shaurya comes riding up with the news that he fixed the TV for her. She lights up and he offers to give her a ride on the buggy cart attached to the bike, only he can't move an inch-she is taller than he is, after all.He tries to play it cool by suggesting a nice walk instead, and she laughs. As they walk home, she asks if he takes after his mother or father, and he says Dad. She wonders what kind of person his father was, and guesses that he wasn't particularly handsome, but that he liked to help others and brag about it, and that he was a good person. Shaurya is taken aback when she doesn't hiccup afterwards, and stands on his tiptoes to give her a sudden kiss on the cheek. He says that for the last six months, he's lived only telling lies, because that was what was best for him and Grandpa. "But the truth is ten times more comforting than a lie, like the thing you just said."They get home and turn the TV on, andAnokhi is on pins and needles in anticipation of seeing Mom. She reminds Shaurya not to say anything about this to Dad, since he'd come in here and bust the TV if he knew-he hates talking about her, and doesn't even letAnokhi call her. She sees Mom come up in the next news segment and clasps her hands together dreamily, and Shaurya turns to look at the TV. His face freezes to see none other than reporter Devi, the heartless woman who turned his family into pariahs for ratings. His traumatic past flashes across his eyes, and he walks out asAnokhi hugs the TV, just happy to catch a glimpse of her mother. As the quiz show MC narrates in voiceover that sometimes the world seems truly small, Shaurya heads out and looks up at the TV antenna he fixed. When Dad comes back and asks where Anokhi is, Shaurya says that she's inside watching the news, and that she called her mother too. Dad storms into the room and starts breaking the TV, andAnokhi cries for him to stop. She runs out to Shaurya, calling him Uncle, and pleads with him to stop Dad. But he coldly shoves her away and asks why he should. The quiz show MC continues, saying that some people call this fate, whether or not the connection is for better or worse...We fade back into the present, as the MC describes this phenomenon as six degrees of separation, and asks Shaurya his last quiz question to win this round: What is the name of the American actor whose name is associated with this concept? He flashes his opponent a smile and answers: "Kevin Bacon." Anokhi is happy that he won, while her deskmate huffs that he's just been lucky this round. Anokhi catches on that her friend has a crush on the first-place boy in their class and calls her out on it, so the girl just turns it around and asks if Anokhi likes Shaurya. She reminds them that he's her uncle, but everyone knows they're not blood-related, and the girl presses her to answer how she feels about him, as a man. Anokhi says she doesn't like him, and everyone waits for the hiccups... but they don't come. She seems relieved. Elsewhere, Yash has grown up, and delivers water as a part-time job. He walks past a row of TVs in an appliance store and stops in front of the one broadcastingShaurya's face. He turns around and approaches slowly...Shaurya looks into the camera, as if looking back at Yash. But when we cut back to Yash, we see that the TV that's caught his attention isn't the one playing Shaurya's quiz show, but Jagruk Nation news with reporter Devi. His eyes fill with bitterness, as he stands between the two TVs, fixated on Devi and completely missing his little brother who's inches away, seemingly looking up at him.The next round of the quiz show begins, and Anokhi declares with confidence that Shaurya will win.