The Rhodesia Connection!

Pain is something everyone goes through. But the bottom line is who can sustain it. People have their own ways to control their minds whenever it is too excited or too emotional. I was personally not exposed to certain emotions in life until recently. And co-incidentally i happened to watch this movie Blood Diamond. I was greatly inspired by the connection between the characters of Danny Archer (the smuggler) and Maddy Bowen (the investigative journalist). Things went deep inside of me when i was inspired by Maddy's attitude and the impact, media can have on the society and of course i could relate myself to the character of Danny in terms of how cold and reserved he is. 

There arises three to four instances in the movie where these two characters interact. From fighting around to becoming friends and then to caring about each other the relationship between them grows fascinatingly well. The conversation between them while they are in an orphanage run by Benjamin, is a masterpiece! The wine that they share, the dark and its silence, the serenity of the place even with so much pain inside it swept me off my feet. The way Danny Archer opens up and eventually breaks down to his emotions is something very close to my heart.

And i could not just look at it and keep quiet. The connection between these two characters has gone real deep into my heart and my reactions to it had to come out. I decided i will bring it out in a form of a script and shoot it sometime later (if i feel so it is required). And here i have tried to highlight the connection between two characters. It is nothing but a simple conversation. Although i have maintained the names as Danny (Boy) and Maddy (Girl); it is nothing related to the story of Blood Diamond. I have had certain experiences personally off late and i have tried to express it; not literally though but in bits and pieces. It might actually fail to communicate the actual story and definitely it is not complete as a story. But that is perfectly okay, as the focus here is not the story but the connection between the two characters. If a complete story is a sentence, what i have written below is just a phrase in it!

(PS: Please excuse me if you get confused reading it.)

Scene Particulars: Two friends from school, Danny and Maddy sit on top of the terrace at midnight chatting over a bottle of wine. This is their regular stuff. This is how they spend their Friday night's putting behind them a hectic work week. But today Danny is in a totally different mood. 

Danny: what do you think about this life that we’ve got?

Maddy: what!

Danny: tell me..?

Maddy: I think it is supposed to be lived!

Danny: Well.. Yeah…of course.. But you know what I am asking..

Maddy: hmmmm…. All I know now is… that something has caught your mind..

Danny: who in this world is deprived of it...? Huh? Now Tell me..

Maddy: Aha... I thought YOU my dear friend was a clear exception..

Danny: what makes you think so...?

Maddy: (Gives a stare)

Danny: What?

Maddy: Anyway... You are sounding heavy today..

Maddy: …and a bit strange..! what’s happening dude?

Danny: you know... ahh… hmmm… its nothing really..

Maddy: (Angry stare)

Danny: everything’s just normal...

Maddy: you still want me to explain why you are an exception..(Angry)

Danny: alright... I get your point..

Maddy: tell me... what’s bothering? Why now about Life?

Danny: people go through all kinds of shit right?

Maddy: huh… well… I just know one kind...

Danny: what?

Maddy: Deep! Deep shit! (Laughs...)

Danny: well...

Maddy: hey... I was just kidding man..

Danny: yeah... well... you know this woman in my life..

Maddy: I am all ears…

Danny: I had always been cold and reserved throughout my life..

Maddy: you don’t have to specify that!

Danny: just tell me one thing... For a man to express... is it bad?

Maddy: Are you nuts..?

Danny: no tell me… do you think it’s manly enough to portray at the outset that he maintains his perspective like nobody else..? What do you make of such a man?

Maddy: what do I make of such a man? Well… Dude we’ve been friends from school now… There’s a reason why I haven’t fallen for you… hahaha...

Danny: ha... ha… haaa…. Very funny…

Maddy: no, actually in a way I mean what I say…

Danny: so you think it’s okay to let things out of you..

Maddy: Yup. Straight and honest!

Danny: I was this; with her... you know... it was effortless...

Maddy: well… that’s good for you…you don’t want to carry a time bomb inside waiting to burst... you see you can’t control the collateral damages due to the burst!

Danny: hmmmm….

Maddy: What is it?

Danny: that day may be it out-poured… may be I failed to control.. it was different!

Maddy: I am sure she would have been happy for you that it got lighter…..here… (Pointing at his heart)

Danny: i wonder... What made me cry that day…?

Danny: I was on the brink of losing my job… you know…

Maddy: yeah…

Danny: I was just recovering from a clot in the chest… and the politics at my work place was too dirty to handle..

Danny: I always wanted to be an example… you know... how can I be pulled down by such small issues in that case... This stopped me from uttering a word about the pain around… but she…she somehow knew everything I was going through… She knew me well. Not this me…me… but the one inside…

Danny: …..and I took her reactions for granted!

Maddy: Shit happens…

Danny: I have repented for it like never before in my life…

Maddy: don’t tell this to me as if it is something new... you always do that…

Danny: What?

Maddy: repent!

Danny: You mean to say I keep a wrong foot always... huh?

Maddy: No... it is just that you forget all the good things in your life except for those things you repented for..

Danny: how else do you learn?

Maddy: you are an idiot! I can’t tell anything more..

Danny: so what do you expect me to do?

Maddy: hmmm… what’s the scene now?

Danny: it is just about me… you know… trying to get out of the situation I assumed for myself... rest everything is fine..

Maddy: well then... you need to stop expecting... and let things be the way it is… You can’t pull the thread too long..

Danny: hmmm...

Maddy: it’s difficult I understand… Stop Giving… Then you don’t give a shit to your expectations…

Danny: well…. that’s rude!

Maddy: Okay… go ahead if you’ve got anything better… Can’t see you losing it my friend!

Danny: hmmm…

Maddy: who is this lady by the way?

Danny: huh… (Laughs in despair) well… two brothers and two sisters.. Nothing to eat as dark set in... You know..! My dad used to... (Cuts short the dialogue)… he was a gem of a person otherwise... my sister and I… (Laughs in despair)… the things we've done to support her…

Danny: she never used to talk about what pains she was going through personally... you know? How she endured all that is still a big question to all of us..

Maddy: who…?

Danny: (After a brief pause) my mother!

Maddy: hmmm… Sorry I was rude… I thought it was your girl…

Danny: even if it was about my girl... it was rude…

Danny: you tell me... how can a man stop giving…

Maddy: you know... for the first time in years now… you are making sense..

Danny: She was a great lady!

From the Movie (my favourite dialogue):
Danny Archer to Maddy Bowen: Sometimes i wonder, will God ever forgive us for what we have done to each other. Then I look around and I realize, that God left this place a long time ago!