Last Confession

“THREE films,” exclaimed Rajiv Kumar. “Three films in my whole career portray my life.” Famous for his silent nature, the blueeyed, media-shy man of the film industry was on air in Channel 69, speaking his heart out. This last appearance was specially requested by Rajiv himself, a chance to unfold some secrets. Chances could come later but not Rajiv. His doc had given him and the media the final word. Their reel life hero had acute leukaemia and would live for just three more months. Accepted as one of the best romantic directors of the era, Rajiv’s films rocked the box office each time they released. And they did so once in a year, save some early age mistakes of ghost stories and murder mysteries, when he was struggling. “So what are those films may we know? And how do they portray your life?” asked the VJ co-ordinating the show. Rajiv passed a dark smile. He was a witty man and knew how to handle the media, but today he had nothing to lose. “They were inspirations. There are three big secrets in my life, bigger than my life I guess … the films speak of those secrets, rather those secrets were my inspiration for those films.” “Oh secrets! Wow! We understand that we cannot ask you to disclose them to us, but at least a few hints, offline,” giggled the VJ. “We sure are not going to tease you with those.” She was having the dream run of her life and the TRP of Channel 69 was shooting sky high. “Ok, the first one was Akela.” “And what was the inspiration?” “The inspiration was a kid abused by his uncle. It was me.” There was an uneasy silence for a second. The clumsy VJ moved on quickly. “Ok, so what was the second instance?” “It was Abhimaan. I jumped from the third story of a building for my then girlfriend. But unlike the hero, I broke all my bones,” chuckled Rajiv. “Oh! You really did that? That’s crazy…” “You think so? Here I am with you, three months shy of death.” “That brings us to the last one...” “Are you ready for it?” “Why not? We are eager.” “The film didn’t go down very well, although it portrayed the greatest truth of my life.” “Which was...” “Do you remember Adbhoot, the murder mystery, where a little boy escapes a lunatic murderer who had stabbed 23 people to death?” “Yes, don’t tell me you were that kid?” “No, I was the killer.”