Great Indian Rip-off 6-7

Previously, Ali ends his tragic life (Parts 1-3, Part 4 and Part 5).

Part six

While Ali’s family faces serious marital troubles, Edwina and Jawahar’s marriage is by and large a happy one. They have a seemingly balanced life with the school, the business and the daughter. And to top it, they are expecting a second child.

Morarji and Jaya are also doing well. They have a daughter named Jaya Lalitha.

But happy family makes for a really boring story. Why do you think traditionally Bollywood movies didn’t have sequels? Who would want to watch a movie based on happily ever after?
So we make problems for Jawahar.

The problem is twofold. First there is Krishna, a new teacher at Jawahar’s school. Then there is Joanne Lye, the school’s head mistress. Joanne is a racist, and Jawahar and Krishna are at the receiving end of her bigotry — cue the social consciousness. Of course, this brings Jawahar and Krishna together.

Things come to a head when after a night of ‘accident’, Krishna becomes pregnant. Jawahar denies all responsibility. The scandal gives Joanne an excuse to fire both Jawahar and Krishna.

The incidence results in Jawahar turning to wine.

Within a few months of Ali’s suicide, both Edwina and Krishna die giving birth to sons — Sanjay and Lal Krishna respectively.

A few months later, Jawahar is found dead in a side alley.

Part seven

The Ali-Jawahar rivalry has been a major underlying theme in this story thus far. But both Ali and Jawahar are dead. So what happens now? Do we give up on the feud formula?

Of course not. We rely on a time-honoured plot twist. We use the will of a dead character.

Remember Kashmir Apparels was actually owned by Edwina? Well, Edwina’s will provides the twist. We don’t know whether she really Ali all along or whether it was Jawahar’s infidelity, but she leaves Kashmir Apparels to Ali.

As Ali is also dead, the control over Kashmir Apparels becomes a major issue. In fact, this becomes the central plot in the story.

A complicated legal battle follows.

In one corner, we have Ali’s widow Ayuba. She is aided by her boyfriend Abdullah. In the other corner, there is young Indira, aided by her uncle Morarji.

It seems that Ayuba is about to win the case when Abdullah’s adverse testimony ends his tryst with Ayuba and hands the control of the business to Indira. Morarji continues to run the business.