The Acid Test

“We had to really think long and hard before actually sitting down to write the film. A friend’s friend in Delhi knew someone who had done this ghastly deed,” says Vasu,speaking about the extensive research required. While he admits that it is a terrible experience for a girl to go through,the news report also got him thinking in the other direction. “I wanted to understand what that guy must have felt when he was doing this or the events in his head that led him to do so,” he adds.

Shot with a budget of Rs 200,in two and a half hours,the film only has one location,the Krishna Hotel,off Law College Road in Pune and there are only two actors,named Boy and Girl. While the narrative begins with the Boy inviting the Girl to the hotel,over the course of the conversation,he professes his love for her,but she turns down his proposal,maintaining that they are friends. “It is here that my character gets a vial of liquid and starts reading a note about HCl (Hydrochloric acid) and how it damages skin tissue within three seconds of falling on it,” says Manish Gandhi,who plays the lead in the story. He reveals that the girl has been rejecting the boy’s advances because he hails from a lower middle class family and she belongs to an affluent one.

The ending of the film,meanwhile,has been kept open-ended. “We want the audiences to think for themselves,” says Vasu,who is considering a sequel. “I would make a prequel too and reveal details about the story of the two characters. But this is still in the ‘decision’ phase,” he says.