[insects trilling]
[brakes screech]
[truck driver] Hey, there, are you okay?
PRABHU'S HOME
[somber music playing]
What's this? Who are you people?
Ji, I'm Nandan.
You are Parvathy madam's older son, isn't it?
What do you want?
Who are these people, Thatha?
How did you let them in at such a time?
What is this?
Sorry, brother.
They didn't have any more urns at the crematorium.
So madam had to be… brought in this jar.
[whispers] Shut up.
Is this some kind of joke or what? Amma.
-It is true, brother. -[Chiranjeevi] Amma!
Madam had to stay back at the colony near the jungle due the lockdown.
[Chiranjeevi] Amma!
And when the entire colony was infected by LHF,
-madam also got it. -[shushes angrily]
One more word from you and I'll break your bloody face!
-Sir-- -What bullshit is he talking, Thatha?
-What is he saying? Where is Amma? -Your amma betrayed me.
[emotional music playing]
Actually, it was my turn to leave,
but she left first.
[breath trembling]
No.
She couldn't have left.
I…
No matter how late I returned, she always waits…
It can't happen.
No.
[crying]
[gasps]
[Nandan] Brother, madam was like a mother to all of us.
She was an angel.
Until her last breath,
She did everything she could.
She tried her best to save the poor Oraka tribals.
Poor, is it?
Orakas?
Because of those people, my amma is dead…
and you say they are poor?
[Nandan] No, that's not what I meant, brother.
What I meant was those people live, uh, peacefully in the jungle.
It's not their fault at all,
yet because of our disease, they are dying.
And the thousands that are dying over here,
tell me what is their fault?
Huh? No, you explain this to me.
Why are the lives of those Oraka people worth more than our lives, why?
No, brother, I didn't say that.
You did say that!
You said it!
Okay, I agree. I fully agree.
The Orakas are good people, we're the bad guys.
But does that mean our lives are worth nothing?
My amma's life… is also worth nothing?
[cries]
Didn't she just do good all through her life?
-She did, right? -Yes.
What did she get?
What did she get in return from those guys tell me?
[crying]
You guys…
You guys will save the Orakas from this disease? You guys?
[sniffles] Nothing is happening to them!
They drink the infected water, but nothing happens to them.
Those guys are totally fine. They know how to escape the disease.
They know what needs to be done. They just don't want to tell us.
Bloody cannibals!
They are the ones who are inferior to us.
But they are alive and we guys keep dying.
Brother, it's not like that at all. You're just in shock.
You'll be the one in shock, when you see the truth with your own eyes.
[breathing heavily]
[sniffles]
Wait… I will show all of you.
I will show the whole world now.
The true colors of the Oraka community, I will show you.
[theme music playing]
-[man] Mohanlal? -[Parvathy] No.
[man] Uh, Govinda?
[Parvathy] He's my favorite, but no.
Hey, Nagarjuna! That's a nice name, right?
Nagarjuna Prabhu, son of Unnikrishnan Prabhu. [laughs]
I'm not going to name my firstborn after some movie star.
And what's wrong with the name I suggested?
Vaishnavi, if it's a girl, Vinayak, if it's a boy.
Parvathy, we had decided, right? We're having just two.
You'll name the second one and I'll name the first.
Okay, do that. You still have seven-and-a-half months left.
Just don't pick a movie star's name, that's all.
-[brakes screech] -What happened?
[ominous music playing]
[man panting]
[in Oraka] Help.
[man wheezing and coughing]
Help.
[gripping percussive music playing]
[all panting]
Thula? Thula?
Thula?
[intriguing music playing]
Don't be scared.
They're here to help.
What happened?
Are you okay?
Please… [crying]
Please, save…
Save my child.
Please, save…
Save my child.
[Thula crying]
[birds chirping]
[ominous music playing]
[children chattering]
Rumpe!
Go home.
-But, Father-- -Take your brother with you!
[suspenseful music playing]
[panting]
[doctor 1 in English] You don't need to worry.
All the resources of the hospital are at your disposal.
[doctor 2] And keeping your condition in mind,
we'll run all the required tests.
[scanners beeping]
Okay, enough now.
Our most qualified doctors are with Mrs. Shaw at the moment.
That's all we can do for now.
Be honest, Doctor.
Can she beat LHF?
If you want to stay hopeful, then don't ask for my honesty.
[sighs]
[Ketan clicks tongue] What a tragedy.
And I wanted to bring her good news.
All your terms have been accepted.
Jenkins pipeline, ATTAVUS Project.
Nobody will investigate any of your operations anymore.
Now,
in six days the rescue ship
will be ready and waiting for us at Darwin's Bay.
But sadly… the one for whom we did all this…
can't come with us.
We can't leave.
We can't leave without her.
[pensive music playing]
Listen, Mr. Wani…
Right now, I too am feeling very emotional…
but we've made a deal.
Without Swasti, there is no deal.
But… but… but we won't get another chance, Mr. Wani.
With 5,000 people, I, you, and this girlfriend of yours can leave--
You don't get it, do you?
Swasti's medicine that you found on her, it wasn't prescribed for seasickness.
It was for her morning sickness.
Wait.
You mean, she is--
Pregnant.
She is pregnant with their first child.
[tense music playing]
Ketan sahib, our safe haven is Brandon Shaw's private property.
And if his pregnant wife is not fit enough to set a foot on that island,
then none of us will.
But this is madness, Mr. Wani.
Even you know that it… it's impossible to cure LHF.
So many doctors have tried so many experimental treatments,
but there is no hope.
Find a way.
Because if Swasti doesn't live,
then none of us will.
[music intensifies]
Thirteen tens are… 130.
[static over radio]
Oh, wow, Kaddu.
You taught me the 13 times table.
Divya Miss always says, "No nicknames in class."
So, right now I am, Miss Vidisha Savla. Okay?
-Okay. -Um, I'll just, uh, go out for a walk.
At this hour? Don't you think your evening walks are getting too many?
It's okay, Uncle. Anyway I have to stay up a little longer.
-But only 15 minutes. -[Parth] Okay.
-And don't cross the boundary. -Yeah.
-[radio knob clicking] -[radio crackling]
[Basu] How long are you going to keep trying?
He may not even contact you.
No, Uncle, he promised.
[mellow music playing]
And Veenu can be a little late, but he would never break his promise.
[Parth] Sundari.
[cat meowing]
Sundari.
Where are you?
[meowing]
Aww… Sundari.
-[thunder rumbling] -What did you think?
-[meows] -I'd forget to feed you tonight?
How could I?
[ominous music playing]
[groaning softly]
[grunting]
[gasping]
[sinister music playing]
[Santosh] Hello! Is anybody there?
Is anybody there?
I've got to go to Port Blair.
[screaming in pain]
[gasps]
[breathing heavily]
[whimpering]
[groaning]
[screaming]
[whimpering]
[grunting]
[breathing heavily]
[somber music playing]
[sighing]
[gripping music playing]
[grunts]
[Nandan] You brought me so deep into the jungle.
But at least tell me what you want me to do?
[Chiranjeevi] You can help a lot of people, Nandan.
But for that you first need to have trust,
not questions.
How did you know about this place, so deep in the jungle?
I'm a forest guard's son. It's my father's tower.
[evocative music playing]
[in Oraka] They are evil. Evil from beyond the sea… Evil.
[Parvathy in English] When will the police come?
Not until morning. They're not going to find a safer place in the jungle.
[speaking Oraka]
[Thula breathing heavily]
[in English] What's he saying?
That they… That they are going to take his life, Parvathy.
Who?
The guys who a few months earlier had raped this Oraka girl and left.
Probably poachers… who came from the mainland.
You mean this baby…
[Unnikrishnan] A few days ago, NGO workers heard them out
and lodged a police complaint.
Since then the poachers have been chasing them.
While escaping today, they got separated from their tribe.
[Thula moaning]
Just look at her state, she could deliver anytime now.
[speaking Oraka]
[in English] They've threatened these guys that if this baby is born,
they would burn the baby in front of the mother.
What? How can they do that?
[Parvathy sighs]
That's not happening.
I… I won't let it, I swear on my unborn baby.
So long as we are here,
your daughter and her baby won't be harmed at all.
I… I promise you.
[speaking Oraka]
[Parvathy in English] Promise. Hmm?
Brother, this is wrong, brother.
Please let the poor man go.
I told you, Nandan, they're not the ones who are poor, we are poor.
Our people are dying from the disease.
If they had revealed to us
how their people escaped the disease, our people would still be alive.
It could also be possible he doesn't know anything.
Really? Then why did they leave their colony and run away?
They went far away and hid from us because
they want all of us to die, that's it.
[breathing heavily]
Ask him.
Ask him in his language.
Why aren't they falling sick?
Come on.
Ask!
[indistinct chatter]
[scanners beeping]
The key for 138 please.
Oh, madam, there was this guy who came to meet you.
He took your keys and went to your room.
What? Are you new here? Mister attacks people he doesn't know.
[receptionist] Mister who?
[tense music playing]
[Ketan laughing]
Oh, hi! [chuckles]
So, if she dies,
all those hundreds of people from the island can't be evacuated?
Right.
That's why we need to save her.
Um…
But why me, sir?
[gentle music playing]
Since I met you at the hospital the other day,
I've been thinking about you.
About your treatment.
You were saying something about
a plant that could possibly cure this disease.
[sighs]
Yes, sir. But… I just couldn't find the plant.
And I'm very sure the Orakas know something or the other about it, but--
But who knows where the Orakas are right now.
Many NGOs, police, even forest officials, I've approached all of them.
But they all have bigger problems right now.
On my own, I compiled all the findings,
and I even narrowed down the unchecked parts of the forest
where the Orakas could be.
But to scour such a large area, I need a whole search party.
We.
We need a search party.
[Santosh grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[grim music playing]
[grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[sinister music paying]
[sighs]
[intense music playing]
[breathing heavily]
[grunts]
[sighs]
[sinister music playing]
[grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[hissing]
[gasps]
Sorry.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. No, no, no!
Don't come close! Stay back!
Back!
Stay back. Stay back. Stay back.
I will not harm you. I won't do anything.
I promise I'm not here to harm you.
[breath trembling]
[grunting]
[gripping music playing]
[straining]
[grunting]
[groaning]
[shuddering]
[screams]
[screaming in pain]
[beeping softly]
[Vinayak over radio] Sindhu? Sindhu?
Sindhu, are you there?
-Sindhu, Veenu here. -Veenu!
Yeah, Veenu, I'm right here. Are you there? Where are you?
Punishing me for making you wait for 17 years, are you?
Jyotsna, I'm trying everything I can to come to you, but…
[mellow music playing]
I'm sorry, yaar. It's because of me you're stuck over there.
Veenu…
I am not here because of you.
I'm here for you.
I promise you, Jyotsna, I will come.
And anyway I have to come there before evacuation.
You must've heard the emergency broadcast.
What? Evacuation?
Bhaiya?
Mummy, Papa will come to get us, na?
I'm feeling very scared.
Jyotsna Miss taught you, didn't she?
When you're scared, what do you do?
-[beeps] -[song playing]
[Jyotsna in Tamil] ♪ Can you hear ♪
♪ The whispering tree? ♪
[birds squawking]
♪ Can you hear ♪
♪ The whistling bee? ♪
[in Oraka] ♪ The words with wings ♪
♪ The river that sings ♪
♪ Are just a few things… ♪
Kamal? Ajit?
♪ …across space… ♪
[in English] Hey. Prabhu Deva!
-[in Oraka] ♪ …across time… ♪ -[shushes]
[in English] What is this song he's singing? What does it mean?
-This? -[Parvathy] Hmm.
This is the oldest folk song of the Orakas.
-Yeah? -[man humming]
They believe that this song can never die.
It can never die? A song?
The Orakas believe that this is the first ever song of the human race.
Generation after generation, people perished,
but this song always managed to find a way to stay alive.
It was sung centuries ago, and it will be sung centuries from now.
And that's why this song is immortal.
[man humming]
[Chiranjeevi] Spirits are upset?
[Nandan] That's what he replied when I asked him.
He said that the disease is spreading
because his ancestors' spirits are upset?
-What he said is what I said. -Are you drunk or what?
[breathing heavily]
-I know how to make this bugger talk. -Uh…
Uh… No, brother, please, don't do this.
Thousands of us have already died because of him, Nandan.
If he doesn't talk, millions more will die.
[Nandan grunts]
Tell me. Come on.
Why isn't the disease affecting you people? Huh?
What's so special about you people? Huh?
-Tell me! -Brother, no.
I was just 11
when my father tried to save your people by jumping into the forest fire himself.
Why did he give up his life?
What is so special about you people?
My amma, she did the same thing.
To save you people from the disease, why did she give up her life?
What is so special about you people?
What bloody spell did you cast on my poor parents?
Why was saving you people always so important for them? Why?
Why was I… Why was their own son
always less important for them than you people?
What is so special about you people?!
[breathing heavily]
[solemn music playing]
[cries]
[Nandan in Oraka] Are you okay?
The wounds on my body aren't as deep as the wounds on his soul.
[sobbing]
Tell him he already knows the answers to his questions.
He just has to look within.
[grim music playing]
[grunts softly]
[groans]
-[grunting] -[flies buzzing]
[breathing heavily]
[suspenseful music playing]
[grunting]
[retches]
[coughing]
[hisses]
[gasps]
[gripping music playing]
[gasping, grunting]
[yells]
-[yelling] -[rock thumping]
[panting]
[flies buzzing]
[squishes]
[rock thuds]
[grim music playing]
[Ketan in English] The first team will go south of Lathikata, the others, here.
They'll meet us at this check post.
There, we'll divide ourselves into three teams and cover these three areas.
Okay?
Finding the Oraka settlement is our topmost priority.
And…
And I want your complete focus on the job.
[car door closes]
-Hey, focus. -Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
We leave in two. Let's go.
-Dr. Gagra, I want-- -Sir.
Please, uh, not doctor, just Ritu.
[chuckles] Why? Aren't you a doctor, ma'am?
[sighs]
By degree, yes, but I don't know. Doctor is a very prestigious title.
Okay. [chuckles]
Ritu?
-[Ritu] Hmm. -[chuckles]
[Ketan] So, what I was saying is, Ritu…
No pressure, but the fate of the people lives is now in your hands.
[coughing]
Sundari.
[coughing] Sundari.
Stop playing hide-and-seek now, come on.
Sundari.
[ominous music playing]
[gasps]
[coughing]
[breathing heavily]
[fly buzzing]
[breath trembling]
[dramatic music playing]
Guchhu Bhaiya! Guchhu Bhaiya!
We are about to leave!
Stepping out in these conditions is very risky.
We have to take the risk, Uncle.
They broadcast said
all tourist families have to make their way to the evacuation site.
Who knows, maybe they might find their parents there.
-Anyway, we can't stay here-- -Guchhu Bhaiya!
What is this, Basu Uncle? Guchhu Bhaiya is refusing to talk to me.
Guchhu? Guchhu?
[Kaddu] Guchhu Bhaiya, wait!
[gripping music playing]
Hey, Guchhu Bhaiya, listen to me!
Hey, Guchhu Bhaiya, listen!
-Open the door, Guchhu Bhaiya. -I said stay away from me!
[Kaddu] Listen, but we're going to meet Mummy and Papa!
[excitedly] ♪ Tuduk-tuduk, tuduk-tudu ♪
Just go away from here!
Until you open the door, I'll keep on dancing outside like this.
♪ Tuduk, tuduk-tudu ♪
Didn't you hear what I said?! I said stay far away from me!
[Kaddu screams]
[breath trembling]
[crying]
[mask clatters]
[Parvathy humming softly]
[waves lapping]
[humming continues]
[Parvathy in Tamil] ♪ …are just a few things ♪
♪ That I send for you ♪
♪ Across space ♪
♪ Across time… ♪
[sinister music playing]
[shouting] Unni!
[Parvathy panting]
[in English] Unni! Oh, no!
-Get… get up. Thula… -[groans]
-Where is the girl? -They took her away, Parvathy.
I couldn't… I couldn't help her.
-I'll take you to the hospital. -No. No…
You go and call Appa, go.
Ask him to bring the police and the villagers here quickly.
-Huh, okay. -And, Parvathy,
she could deliver any minute now. [panting]
We don't have much time.
-Yeah. -So hurry up.
Okay.
[Nandan grunts softly]
Brother. Chiru brother.
[Chiranjeevi] Huh…
You were telling me that your friend got LHF, right?
You stayed with him for so many days, yet, you…
You weren't affected. Why?
-Because God kept you safe… -[yawns]
…for a good deed.
What are you saying?
What I'm saying is, his son is waiting for him.
So releasing him to go back to him is a good deed, isn't it?
You let him…
Uh, I let him go.
But I felt bad so I woke you up.
Chiru… Chiru brother.
[panting]
[gripping music playing]
[Santosh grunting]
[retching]
[gasps]
[panting]
[footsteps crunching]
Is anybody there?
Is somebody there?
I… I've fallen down here.
Papa. Papa!
[uplifting music playing]
Kaddu. Beta, is that you?
Guchhu Bhaiya, come quick.
[hesitates] Guchhu beta.
Get me come out of here, beta.
Get your papa out of here, beta.
[chuckles] Can't get anything right.
Mummy sent you here so you could look for us.
-And you're stuck down here. -[Kaddu] Papa, come on, please try.
Otherwise you will never be able to see us.
You won't be able to find us.
No, beta.
Please don't say that.
[crying]
[sputters] Don't say that. Don't say that.
I'll try. I promise you, I will try.
I promise. [crying]
I will try…
I'll try.
[breathing heavily]
[gripping music playing]
[grunts]
[breathing heavily]
[gasping]
[whimpering]
[groaning]
[screaming in pain]
[gripping music continues]
[grunting]
[groaning]
[screaming in pain]
[grunting]
[crying]
I did it, Gargi.
I knew you would do it.
Come.
Come here.
[panting]
[crying]
Must be very tired, na?
It's all right. I'll give you a nice gooseberry oil massage, okay?
And you will sleep soundly.
Go to sleep.
[gentle music playing]
[door opens]
[solemn music playing]
WARNING
[tense music playing]
[policeman 1] Careful, the Lathikata Forest is quite dense.
[policeman 2] Watch your step.
-[grunts] -It's a bit slippery.
[Ketan] Ritu ji.
[Ketan laughs]
You're telling me
that right now, if a helicopter lands here in this jungle to take us back home,
then you would still in your… [sighs]
…sane mind, choose to be here?
-Hmm? [chuckles] -[sighs]
Sir, have you heard the name Forelius pusillus?
Huh?
Forelius pusillus. It's a Brazilian ant.
Brazilian ant, huh? Does it eat sugar and do the samba?
[both chuckle]
-Sir. -Huh?
-To escape the cold… -Hmm.
…these ants, they need to seal their colonies.
-Really? Hmm. -Every night.
-But they can't do it from the inside. -Then?
So one ant has to shut the door with sand from the outside.
And each night, that one ant dies in the cold outside.
[policeman 1] Go and check.
For thousands of ants to stay warm and safe at home,
that one poor ant never gets to return home.
[policeman 2] Found anything there?
[groans]
-What happened? -Ant.
[policeman 2] Check that spot.
-Killed it. -[policeman 3] Sir! Ketan sir!
Sir, the other sector's search team has found someone. Let's hurry.
Let's go. Go on, guys!
Ritu ji, after you.
But, sir, I'm a fully law-abiding citizen, sir.
I know it's illegal to roam in this reserve forest.
But the NGO sent me, sir.
Otherwise, I've never met any Oraka ever in my life, sir.
Sir.
[tense music playing]
Really? Then how do you have this with you?
This is my amma's, sir. She gave it to me long, long back.
You're lying to me?
-Why would I lie? It's my amma's. -Put him in the van.
Amma gave it to me, sir. Why are you putting me in the van?
Hey, that officer knows me, sir! Ketan sir!
Sir, Ketan sir! Ketan sir.
Let me go. He said hi to me, okay?
[coughing]
[sighs]
So what now?
The fever will go in a day or two.
You'll even feel a little better, but, uh…
After that I will die.
Right?
In a single flash,
gone.
When my granny died two years ago…
everyone said…
that she was now up in heaven.
But I knew they were just trying to pacify me…
[crying] …because that day,
the way Kaddu clung to her body and cried nonstop…
no matter where my granny was,
she would come back to pacify her, I'm sure.
Heaven, jannat, swarg.
There is nothing there.
[emotional music playing]
There is no happy ending.
[sighs]
[inhales sharply]
[exhales]
You know, my son Shouvik died 20 years ago.
But even today, when I think of him, he comes back…
He comes back to me in the form of tears or sometimes a smile.
I don't know what happens after one dies.
[sighs]
I… I don't even know if something like heaven exists or not.
All I know is that we don't cease to exist.
For the ones that love us, beta,
we continue to exist in their lives in some form or the other.
What you said was right.
There's no happy ending.
Just because
there is no ending.
[coughing]
Sir, I need to leave now.
Guchhu.
[sighs]
I just couldn't… watch my son Shouvik pass away.
That's why I was not beside him in his final moments.
I can't repeat the same mistake.
-[hesitates] No. No, sir. -[sighs]
This is dangerous.
If you come with me then maybe you too might get…
I have been alone for years, beta.
If I die now, by going with you, what difference will it make?
Come.
He had this with him. It's a symbol of Orakas.
Only those related to the Orakas by blood, have it.
I'm sure he must have stolen it.
[intriguing music playing]
Sir. Ketan sir, you know very well that I got into a police tangle
only once in my life.
Then I started the travel company. Now no more shady business.
Listen, we are here to ask the Orakas some very important questions.
Yeah.
So, if there's anything you know, spit it out now.
If I knew anything, 100% I would have come and told you myself.
After all, it's for my own benefit. We trust each other.
-Benefit? -We're both from Port Blair, na?
It's a nice design.
Thank you, sir.
That sir is still staring at me suspiciously.
-I said it's my amma's. You believe me-- -Yeah, he does not believe.
He says that this Oraka symbol is not given to outsiders.
Is that right?
They give this only to those people with whom they have
a relationship of blood.
Am I wrong?
[solemn music playing]
If you know something, you'll tell me?
For sure, right? Hmm?
-[chuckles] -Fuck off.
Thanks.
[wistful music playing]
NURSING HOME GYNECOLOGIST AND OBSTETRICIAN
[in Oraka] I just want to talk…
I just want to talk…
Stop!
[in English] Catch him!
[wistful music continues]
Tie him up!
[music intensifies]
[breathing heavily]
[in Oraka] ♪ Can you hear ♪
♪ The whispering tree? ♪
♪ Can you hear ♪
♪ The whistling bee? ♪
♪ The words with wings… ♪
[Parvathy in Tamil] ♪ The river that sings ♪
♪ Are just a few things ♪
♪ That I send for you ♪
♪ Across space ♪
♪ Across time ♪
[humming]
[mellow music playing]
[in English] Officers told Appa that those guys hit the baby's mother,
tried to burn her when she was giving birth to him.
But the baby didn't even get a scratch.
[chuckles]
Maybe the baby is immortal like their song. No one can destroy him.
[chuckles softly]
Why don't we call him Chiranjeevi in that case?
Yeah, well… Chiranjeevi it is.
[Parvathy] Here.
[Unnikrishnan] Our Chiru.
[Parvathy in Tamil] ♪ The cloud with rains ♪
♪ The moon that shines ♪
♪ Are just a few things ♪
♪ That I send for you ♪
♪ Across space ♪
♪ Across time ♪
[humming]
[theme music playing]