Ek Villian

Chapter 5 (Unraveling Darkness)

As the clock struck 10 PM, the veil of night draped over a scene of domestic discord. A man, draped in a black jacket and adorned with yellow gloves, invaded a home where a woman labored over dishes in the kitchen. His attempt to approach her was met with a storm of fury, as she rained blows upon him, her frustration and anger palpable.

Sulochana (frustrated): "Where were you? I called you so many times. I even left a message. Who were you with? Tell me."

Rakesh: "My phone's battery died."

Sulochana: "Your phone's battery was dead. But you were alive, weren't you? You could have called from a public phone and informed that you'd be late. But no. You will never change. It's no use telling you anything. Listen."

Rakesh: "Look, I've brought a chain for you. It'll look pretty on you."

Sulochana (angry): "Look at this. You brought bangles for me last week. They've turned black in just one week. I had gone to Aunt Madhvi's house for a wedding. I was flaunting these to everyone, saying that these are gold bangles. But then I realized that it's not gold, but brass. It's brass coated with fake gold! Here are your bangles. You wear these bangles! You and those bangles, both are fake! I just don't want to talk to you. You will not stay in this house today. Get out of my house! Just get out!"

Their son, Manish, watched silently, bearing witness to a familiar spectacle of strife.

Sulochana (pointing to the child): "I really don't know how he was born. Get out of my house."

Rakesh: "Sulu, listen to me."

Sulochana: "Take this. Come on."

Rakesh: "Listen to me, Sum."

Sulochana: "Get out of here!"

Rakesh was ejected from the house by Sulochana, who then secured the door from within. Manish observed the drama unfold, a silent spectator to the turmoil within his home.

Manish: "Papa."

Rakesh: "Take this. Don't feel bad about what your mother said. She loves your father a lot."

Rakesh handed a toy fan, a memento from Ayush's house, to his son before departing for a friend's house to seek solace. At his friend Birjesh's residence, Rakesh found himself in the company of another troubled soul.

Birjesh: "To be honest, men like you are giving the men of India a tough time. If there are any more men like you, then men will lose our manhood. Take this."

Birjesh (to his wife): "Darling. Come here. Where's the ice!"

Wife: "I forgot to get it."

Birjesh (slaps her face): "Get it now!"

In the midst of this tumult, Rakesh remained a silent witness, never raising a hand against his wife, despite the harshness of her words.

Birjesh: "Look, Rakesh, we are middle-class people. We're sandwiched between the upper-class and the lower-class. The police torture us. The ministers torture us. The people torture us too. Our lives are too stressed. How do we get rid of it? That's why men like us come home and beat our wives. There's no other way to vent out our frustration, my brother. I have another solution to your problem. Come to Mira Road with me. There are beautiful dancers in the dance bars over there. Be an animal! Bring out the beast in you! Hunt!"

Meanwhile, Guru, shrouded in pain and tears, found himself at Ayush's doorstep, grappling with the cruel hand of fate. Retrieving a poignant voice message from Ayush, Guru was consumed by anguish, lamenting the loss of the guiding light in his life.

Ayush (voice message): "I just wanted to send this message across that... 'I'm proud of you.' 'I'm confident that... now you'll do....everything right in life. No matter how many hardships you face.' Now there'll be no darkness."

Guru (Shouting in pain): "I need you. I need you. I need you."

As dawn broke, Guru ventured to Caesar's sanctuary in Goa, where he encounters some men trying to stop him, but his rage makes him unstoppable. He storms in, like death itself knocking on their door. No one can stop him.

Samba: "Guru is here."

Samba attempted to thwart Guru's advance with gunfire, but Caesar intervened, setting the stage for a confrontation between two formidable foes.

Caesar: "Stop! Put the pistol down! Guru, today I learnt that the value of dogs is known only after a lion arrives."

Guru (raging): "Why did you try to kill him?"

Caesar (shocked): "What? What did you say, Guru? How could you even think that the one who raised you like a father and gave you life would take away your reason to live from you? But if you still feel that I've killed your Ayush, then take this gun. Take it! And shoot me! Fire all the bullets in it at me! Why did you kill her? Shoot me! Shoot me now! Shoot me! Don't fear. Shoot me! Guru."

Unable to take Caesar's life, Guru unloaded the gun into the air, his anger unabated. Caesar understood that those who threatened Ayush's sanctity faced an indomitable force.

Caesar: "Don't let this fire in you douse, Guru! Burn the world