At this point, I was clinging to the hope that this would be the movie's
saving grace. After all, Karan
Arjun had a twenty-year wait for the appropriate payback. Why not
this one too? I'd have loved to see a young Son of Ashok rise from the ruins
of his downtrodden roots to overcome and smack the heads of the jerks that
did all this, but that isn't what we get. Not by a long shot.
We
have a brief and pointless three line conversation between Champa and his
favorite guard, then it's over to Betsy the Jailor's office. Inspector Singh is
there to tell her that a complaint was filed by one of her prisoners with the
governing body concerning her activities in the prison. He tells her that he
isn't going to take action against her, because he wants Betsy to teach "that
she-cobra" a lesson. She asks who it is that he wants to have educated, and of
course it's Shivani.
Betsy has no problems with doing just that. We immediately cut outside to see
Betsy beating the heck out of Shivani with her SotL. Shivani begs her to stop,
because she is pregnant. Betsy, seeking to humiliate Shivani, asks if the baby
is her husband's or her alleged lover's. Shivani adamantly defends her honor and
says that her husband is the father.
What follows is another scene that is simply too upsetting for me to
describe. The short version is, Shivani takes a very harsh beating while
being restrained by other guards. She is then sent off to solitary
confinement and used as an example to the other prisoners of what will
happen if anyone tries to report what goes on in the jail. It is also made
abundantly clear that she has lost the baby.
In
perhaps a symbolic moment, we have a fade to black, then a shot of the rising
sun. We cut into Betsy's office, where Champa's companions are demanding to know
where their friend is. Champa is still being transferred back and forth between
men's and women's jails, since they're not sure where he belongs. This time he
proudly marches out from the hallway and they have a little comedy routine where
he decides he'll become a political leader one day and put a stop to all this
nonsense in the prison system. Betsy grows weary of their little act and has
Champa taken away.
We then cut to a scene that I wasn't expecting. We see some shapes moving
around underneath a blanket. It is pulled down to reveal the bed-tousled head of
Betsy! She remarks to the other shape (soon revealed to be Inspector Singh!)
that the one good thing about this complaint business was that she got a man
like him. He makes some other mildly lewd comments about also being pleased with
their arrangement.
They
share some "I'm evil and corrupt, and that's so hot!" pillow talk, then finally
talk about Shivani. Betsy tells him that she's done such a number on Shivani
that she won't dare even think of her, let alone file another complaint.
Out in the yard, Shivani is released from her overnight stay in The Hole, and
she staggers out into the daylight. Nisha sees her leaning against the wall in a
daze, still wearing the stained clothes from the day before. Nisha begins to cry
while trying to comfort Shivani, but Shivani tells her not to weep. If one were
to look into Shivani's eyes, she says that all of her tears have dried up. It is
clear that she's now gone over the edge, and quite understandably so.
Shivani
marches down the steps to the main yard, and tells Nisha that her endurance is
like the Earth. She bears everything, but the moment the volcano of endurance
explodes, it annihilates everything. She then gives the camera the look that
says quite clearly that "it is time to take out the trash."
In Betsy's office, we find that the guards have assembled in what looks like
a makeshift war room. It has come to light that the prisoners wish to observe a
religious ceremony. Betsy says she can't stop them from doing it, since that
would be infringing on their faith (I find it interesting that she'll refrain
from screwing around with this one, but she'll do all the other stuff she's up
to). She just tells the guards to be extra vigilant, since some of the prisoners
might take advantage of the break in routine to try and escape. She also makes a
special mention to have Shivani brought to her, since some "special guests" are
coming.
