The Last Photograph

“There are three methods of gaining wisdom. The first is reflection

which is the highest. The second is imitation which is the easiest. The
third is experience which is the bitterest.

---Confucius

((Title Screen Appears))

Female Voice (Starts shouting in Bangla):

aai chele! Uthish na ken! Sharadin ghumai achish!

Uporer ghor ta guchaleo tho parish! Ar matro 10 din por flight! Aai!

{Translation: Why aren’t you getting up! sleeping all day! You can at
least help with the room upstairs! Only 10 days till the flight! Hey!}

(Hazy vision)
(Protagonist opens eyes)
(Protagonist gets up)
(A glimpse of brushing teeth)
(A glimpse of walking upstairs)
 (Looks at the interior of the room)

(Dusty table tennis table, along with piles of files in boxes

and other furniture in a mess)

Younger Child Voice:

Baba where does dust come from?

{Translation: Baba means Father}

Father Voice:

Dhula ashe ojotno theke

{Translated: Dust comes from neglect}

(Glimpses of dust on top of almost everything in the room)

(Begins clearing stuff)

Narrator:

There was something about the past

(Protagonist drops a basket of Legos, toys, etc. on the ground)

(Looks at push-up pencil pieces and broken mini railway tracks)

Narrator (cont’d):

Something that now only exists in particles and pieces

 (Picks up cassette tape and strings are tied weirdly)

Narrator (cont’d):

Things which make more sense now than ever before

(Looks at old wooden pencil box with secret chamber)

(Finds folded test copies- he got zero in one)
(Tell your parents to see me written on top of the test sheet in red)

Narrator:

Fragments hidden in secret corners we have forgotten

(Finds negatives of a film)

Narrator:

Memories lost within our subconscious

(Stares at the negative)

(Focuses on the pictures inside the negative…)

{Note: the negatives are the only thing in frame that are slightly
colored}

Narrator:
 The past was never quite easier, yet somehow seemed simpler.
Maybe that’s what made it so fascinating?
Or maybe it’s just the tedious bland present …

(A girl smiling painfully) // who’s playing the girl,painful hashi tough

jinish to show on camera

(Slowly rewinding)// kinda unnecessary

(Colors add slowly as well)

(Sad face of the girl a few seconds ago)//overplaying

Narrator:

And the colors never quite made it through.

(Fade out)

(Ext. in front of a studio in the streets)

(Int. in front of the guy behind the counter)

(Protagonist hands negative)

{Note: the characters are talking but the sound of it won’t be included}
 (Stares into the street)

(Hears quiet echoes inside his head)

Apni print dibar paren kintu arekta chobir jaiga ache

{Translated: You can print it out …but there’s room for one more}

{Note: by quiet echoes I mean that the echoes aren’t extremely

distorted but to a certain extent)

So far the protagonist seems too apathetic. Make him smile at least
once. Preferably in the girl’s scene.

(Focus on protagonist’s face reaction)

(Ext. looking out at the streets in front of him as the Rickshaws, Car and
people pass by)

(Starts walking)

Narrator:

Only one?// unnecessary. Sounds like Mr. obvious. How about replacing
this with a reply to the studio’s mama with the protagonist saying “AR
EKTAI”?
 (Travelling in bus as he stares out the window) //better if he wears
glasses and smudging them on his shirt

Voice of a girl:

Shob shomoi choto baapar gulake boro koro! Shob shomoi!

{Translated: you always make a big deal of everything! always!}

(Walking home)

(Walks by a mosque)

(People getting out after prayer…)

(Looks at poster of a devi on the mosque wall)//some sorta hindu ritual
invitation. Ask sudipto if he can explain it better. gotta do this scene
properly.

Narrator:

Who am I to decide what’s the only one?// which is the one arektu deep
shonay

(Going up stairways…face gets brighter from dark)

(Int. home)
 (Takes off shoes)

(Uncle calls him)

Uncle:

aai Showmic ei dik ai tho!

{Translated: hey showmic come here!}

//reply to mama’s call like ha ashi mama! Your nayok seems a bit
listless.

(Walks towards mother and uncle. Both of them are sitting in the dining
table)

Uncle:

ei koi joner vitor kontake mami hishebe chash?

{Translated: Out of these which one do you want as your aunt?}

(Pictures on the table) (4-5 pictures)

{Note: one of them will be of the aunt in the near-future}

 Uncle (cont’d):

bole de ekhoni!

{Translated: tell me now!}

Narrator:

Almost everyone was worth considering …but nothing seemed precise.

(Walking with friend in a fairly busy street)

Friend: [ ]

What's so wrong with arrange marriages?

Not like there's any such thing as soul mates.
Everyone we spend time with eventually feels significant…

(Focus on random stuff on the street… birds flocking, tea stall, a couple
sitting, people walking etc.)

Friend (cont’d): [ ]
 Details we observe add layers to their personality …
even the conversations…more audible and distinct…
but eventually…as more time….

(Slowly …sound of the street enters into the conversation and gets
louder and louder making the last few words barely audible)

((Horns, birds chatter, grain sound, indistinct voices etc.))

(Int. home)

(Looking at calendar…with date marked in calendar)

(Sitting on the table, doodling on the copy …with a cup of tea on the
table…)

(Vapor emitting from the cup)

(A knock is heard)

(Camera turns to dad behind him)

(Protagonist’s father comes closer)

Dad:
 Worried about the trip?

Protagonist:

No…

Dad:

Then?

(Protagonist shrugs and takes a while)

(Hesitates and starts speaking)

Protagonist:

Weeeird question, why’d you marry mom?

Dad:

Because I loved her.

Protagonist:

Why?

Dad:

Well, I had my reasons. You just sort of realize…

(Focus on photos of parents together)

 (Protagonist picks them up)

(Dad puts hand on the protagonist’s shoulders)

Dad:

Ekdin bujhbi.

[ You’ll figure it out ]

(Dad awkwardly begins to leave)

(Protagonist goes over the photos)

Dad (Voice):

One last piece of advice, try to choose someone flexible.

Someone who can adapt through the wear and tear of time.

You have no idea how much changes…

(Protagonist stops at photo of mom doing gymnastics)

Narrator:

Flexible…

(Sound of laughing politely)

(Another picture of Mom doing gymnastic …)

 //kudos!

Narrator:

I guess that’s never changed

(An old picture of the family with mom holding/carrying the child)

Narrator:

Just changed forms

(Fade out)

(Focus on girl’s face)

Girl:

If there’s something I can do, some way you want me to change,

somehow I …

(Slowly turns into black and white….before the sentence is complete)

//this scene isn’t necessary. You gotta let it sink into the viewers for a
bit.
 (Protagonist setting up Dominoes with Jenga blocks)

(Pushes the 1st block)

(The last piece falls off the table)

(Uncle comes close to the protagonist and puts one of the

aforementioned pictures on the table…
then he smiles in a very weird way)

(Protagonist reaches hand out to pick the picture up)

(Transition)

(Protagonist reaches hand out to pick a card)

(They are playing a board game and the cards and pieces are spread
accordingly in the table)

Protagonist:

Not what I am looking for

Friend:

But why search there…in the police station??

Friend 2:

Aand what are you even searching for? Are you the traitor?

(Suspicious looks from friends)

 ((Camera angle: behind the Protagonists shoulders))

//I wanna be in this scene !!!

(Protagonist looks at the cards in his hand)

(A shotgun card)

((Camera spins around))

((Everything turns more dark-greyish))

(Instead of the cards from the board game …protagonist now has
printed pictures on his hand and he is holding them the same way he
was holding the cards)

((Camera turns around again going behind the protagonist’s

shoulders…It reveals him holding pictures of random girls in his hand
…and on the other side of the table his uncle is holding pictures like
cards as well and his uncle plays one of the pictures as if a card and
then draws another picture from the deck)

(His uncle smiles in a very weird way)

//me likey

(Protagonist wakes up)

 (Next day morning)

(Protagonist gets out of room and finds uncle and aunt together)

(Behind them protagonist’s mother is packing a big luggage)

Aunt (smiles):

Shuvo shokal

{Translation: Good morning}

Mum:

eto deri kore uthish!

{Translation: Waking up so late in the morning!}

Mum(cont’d):

ei koita bag ami age theke guchai rakchi baki gula tora korbi...
ar bashar shob habi jabi kagoj bikri kore dibo...
kono ta rakhte chaile alada kore rakhbi...

{Translated: these few bags I’m packing up early …the rest are up to you
guys
and I'm getting rid of all the junk in the household...
if you you want to save any then store them separately}
 (Uncle and Aunt still standing close to each other)

(Uncle and Aunt notice that Mum locks a small lock in the luggage)

(Int. rooftop of the apartment)

(Protagonist with his friend)

Protagonist:

I had this nightmare yesterday…

Friend:

What was it about?

Protagonist:

Can’t remember…but everything was much greyer…

Friend:

Greyer? Than what?

Protagonist:

Greyer than usual

Friend:

You were always the easily scared type…

 Protagonist:

Haha.. that’s true…

Friend:

(takes a moment)

Remember we used to play everything here…

Football, cricket, table tennis…

(Points to the room)

Friend (cont’d):

Pokemon card

Protagonist:

Beyblade on a bathtub // Gamla na ? xD

(Laughs)

(Looks at the streets)

Friend:

ar golir shob building e lukachuri

{Translated: and hide and seek in the entire neighborhood}

(Looks at someone exiting the house with a camera)

(Alone in the night popping a ball point pen)

Narrator:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

Maybe I just don’t have that much to say

((Camera focuses on the table which has 3-4 pictures lying around)

Narrator:

Why on earth would you need to print them?

((Camera focuses on 1st picture))

((Still picture transitions into motion video))

Girl:

So I can touch it…feel it… it’s nice to have that

 (Completes position in 2nd picture: an awkward shrug)

Girl (cont’d):

Plus I hate digital everything // plus I kinda like vintage stuff dile bhalo
hoy

(Girl smiles…thus completing the 3rd picture)

(Finally she spins her palm and asks ‘what?’ with her fingers….4th
picture)

(Picture goes out of focus and slowly loses colors)

(With the distorted zoom…transitions back into reality)

(Protagonist walking with friend outside)

Protagonist:

That was the only time that we agreed on something

 Friend:

She wasn’t that bad

Protagonist:

She wasn’t

Friend:

Does she know you’re leaving?

(Awkward silence)

Friend:

Mmm… what about the picture?

Protagonist:

I think the answer is somewhere really close to me

…but I just can’t get a sight of it.

(Friend stops him in his track)

Friend (In a sarcastic-serious voice):

Even Moses wanted a glimpse of the ultimate truth

(Takes a picture of the guy with flash turned on)

 Friend (cont’d):

…he wasn’t ready

(Picture with the protagonist’s eyes closed)

Friend:

Are you? …See what I did there?

(Focuses back on the protagonist’s picture with his eyes closed)

(Protagonist sorting his copies near the shelf)

(He is looking inside the copies ... one by one and )

Mum Voice (loudly):

Ar koto din egula evabe fele rakhbi?

{Translation: How long will you keep these lying around? }

(Protagonist notices stylized names of protagonist's favourite bands

inside his copy)
 ((Kinda like graffiti art))

Narrator:

Always stuck somewhere between the weight of the past and the wait
for the future.

(drops the copy)

(Starts carrying a few copies to person buying books)

Narrator:

And the verdict lies in the moment.

Whatever pulls us in deeper

(Looks at the copies being weighed in the 2 pan balance)

((Camera tilts slightly according to the tilt in the weight machine))

(Father calling as he sits in dining table)

Father:

Showmic khete ai!

{Translated: Showmic come to eat!} // don’t use your name in the movie.
Use oeshic’s

(Everyone else helping set the foods on the table)

Father(cont’d):

idaning chobir album niye onek ghataghati korchish…baapar ki?

{Translated: recently you’ve been going through the albums a

lot…what’s the matter?}

Protagonist:

chinta korchi

{Translated: just thinking}

Father:

ki?

{Translated: about what?}

Protagonist:

…wondering …if you had to take only one picture

…what would you take a picture of?

Mum:
 kisher chobi?

{Translated: a picture of what?}

Protagonist:

je kono kichu

{Translated: anything…}

Mum:

jani na…
amar tho mone hocche amra shobai mile ekhon khacchi etar e chobi
tula jeto…
ekshathe achi…
kichu din por tho chole jacchi ...

{Translated: don’t know… I feel that I might as well take a picture of us

eating together… like we are now….we’re going to leave in a few
days…so… }

Protagonist:
 baba?

{Translated: dad?}

Father:

ami mukto nil akasher chobi tulte chai…. Kono megh thakbe na jedin//
porishkar akash bolish,nobody says mukto neel in real life

{Translated: I want to take a picture of the vast blue sky…when no

clouds block the view}

(Uncle reacts almost immediately and slightly annoyed at the

romanticism)

Uncle:

keno??

{Translated: why??}

Father:

amra civil engineering e eto drawing, weight distribution, beam,

column design kori…

othocho akash ta dekh …kono support charai ekta chaader moto …

{Translated: We Civil engineers spend so much time with drawing,

…designing beams and columns, on the contrary look at the sky… it
seems to shelter us without any support…}
 Uncle:

ei tho wajj er hujur der moto kotha bollen..

{Translated: you’ve started to talk like a preacher in a sermon…}

(Uncle laughs weirdly and loudly)

Protagonist: mama tumi?

{Translated: what about you uncle?}

Uncle: (takes a moment)

ekta gorib bura loker hashi….

exact kono face pacchi na…graamer diker karo

{Translated: the smile of someone old and poor…I have no exact face in
mind…someone from the village…}

(Silence)

(Noise of family eating… i.e clink of fork, pouring water on glass etc.)

Uncle (cont’d):

amar kache shob shomoi obaak lage manusher hashi ashe kotha
theke?

Gorib o hashe boro lok o hashe …hahaha

{Translated: I always wonder what the source of laughter might be? The
rich laugh and so do the poor… hahaha}

(Says in an exaggerated, loud and annoying manner)

(Starts laughing)

Narrator:

I began asking my friends what they’d take a picture of?

{Note: the scene that’ll follow will include a few 4-5 people just
stepping into the same frame and leaving it …there’ll be no words said
…they’ll explain what picture they would take and step out the frame
….i.e enter through left and exit through right}

(Friend 1 steps into frame)

((The lower parts of his feet are not part of the frame))

(He enters center screen

and then picks up a cage with 4 budgies…
from below….and halts for a 2 second and then exits frame)
 (Friend 2 enters frame juggling football)
(He shows a trick with the ball and then leaves)

(Friend 3 enters frame with girlfriend)

(As they leave together with him showing her his wallet is empty)

(Friend 4 with a pizza box)

(He reveals empty pizza box)

(He fakes surprise and fakes crying because it is empty)//this has turjo
written all over it xD

(Friend 5 enters frame)

(He gets something out of his pocket)

(Picture of his dead parent) who? Shamail ? :/

{Note: have to figure a way out to convey that the picture is of his dead
parent}

//can you show teardrops falling on it? With the friends face out of the
camera?
 (Fade out)

(Protagonist packing his stuff while his friend helps)

(Protagonist’s mobile rings- sms alert)

(Friend sends photo of him that was taken before – picture with
protagonist’s eyes closed)

(Protagonist looks back at friend)

Friend:

What are these?

(looks at torn papers with band names, games names in graffiti)

Protagonist:

My notes from classes I didn't like

(Friend laughs)
 Friend:

Thinking about cheesy captions for this…

//Hubs Ka Dum :3
(Protagonist continues packing and covering shelf so that dust
wouldn’t enter)

(Protagonist’s mobile rings- sms alert)

(Friend sends photo of him that was taken before – pic with
protagonist’s eyes closed as a meme with the text)

(Meme Reads: Why are the greatest truth found with eyes closed?)

Protagonist:

I invited you here to help, you know

Friend:

I am helping …I’m searching for pictures that you can take…

(Protagonist goes toward to look at friend’s mobile)

Friend:

Yea you know what they say

…if you can’t find it within your soul its somewhere within the internet…
 (Protagonist says goodbye to friend)

(Protagonist begins going through photos in his desktop)

(Scrolling down pictures in photo group in Facebook)

Narrator:

I really don’t know much about photographs…

what makes one better than another…

(Focus on different number of ‘likes’)

Narrator:

All I know is that each one is a reference to a particular point in time …

a moment that will never repeat itself …

{Note: a corresponding picture of some sort…. E.g A boy jumping into the
river and moment before the splash}

Narrator (cont’d):

And all we owe to the moment is not be deceitful

(Pictures show people posing for their photographs including posed
marriage photographs)

Narrator (cont’d):

Yet as human beings we all pretend…we have to…

I’d like to believe there are moments when we don’t

(Picture of an old couple)

Narrator (cont’d):

Times when we manage to convince ourselves

that something or someone out there is worth the while… maybe then…

(Protagonist gets camera and inserts film)

Narrator:
And I tried so hard to convince myself…
of that something… and yet…
not all of us are blessed and that’s what I kept thinking…

(Keeps on looking at camera as he holds it)

Narrator (cont’d):

I kept thinking until I realized what this was about …

it was about nostalgia
 (picture of mom doing gymnastics)

Narrator (cont’d):

About the emptiness we feel, about what surprises us.

(Picture of friend showing empty wallet to his girlfriend)

(Picture of an old poor person laughing)

Narrator (cont’d):

About love, passion…

((Pictures exchange in quick succession))

(Picture of friend with parrot)

(Picture of friend with soccer ball)

Narrator (cont’d):

And the bonds we share

(Picture of friend holding photo of dead parent)

(Picture of protagonist’s family together)

 (Silence)
(Protagonist begins to go upstairs)

(He opens the door upstairs)

Narrator:

Even a few moments ago

I don’t think I would’ve gone ahead with this…

(Protagonist takes aim with camera)

Narrator:

It felt like mere justifications….

reasoning…because we…I …have to.
But if you’re listening to this …you know that I have made my choice…
and by the time you are hearing my voice
I’m not only far gone but also have started to contemplate, question and
even regret my choice.
(Sound of protagonist sighing)

(Girl holding a cassette in the balcony)

((Almost as if she were to drop it))

Narrator (cont’d):
You knew me pretty well …so it probably doesn’t surprise you …
I wonder if I should’ve done things differently…
were there better options? Probably.

(Picture of the empty room- the last photograph he took)

(The picture in the protagonist’s hand)

Narrator (cont’d):

I guess what I’ve realized is that

in the end it comes down to whether we choose or not …
the choices remain the insignificant lot.
Take care.

(A glimpse of protagonist in New York)

(Final Glimpse of the girl’s face)

THE END