By: Rohan Kailasam
A drug addict is attacked during the early hours of the morning on the railway tracks near Churchgate station, which leaves a number of attackers dead and the junkie barely holding on to his life as he is brought to the government hospital and is kept under close guard. A reporter is given the story to cover. Initially unmotivated by what she thinks is just a waste of time, a meeting with one of the hospital staff, who gives her a photograph, makes her realise that there is lot more to the attack than what meets the eye. As she unsuccessfully searches for clues, she eventually arrives at a run-down bar in the heart of Colaba market and begins the interview of the resident, the in-house drunk, who might have some answers. What follows is a story of Bombay and the underworld, looked at from an angle that the reporter never thought existed. Through a haze of cigarettes and beer, the alcoholic weaves an impossible tale, as it becomes clear that the junkie in the hospital has been targeted for termination by the police assigned to protect him, and the reporter realizes that she is in a race against time to find the answers that might save his life. As the story reaches an explosive climax, the reporter finds that the sting in the tale might be more than what she bargained for, as the shades are pulled aside and she faces an unenviable choice.
