Ek Chhotisi Love Story

Ek Chotisi Love Story
Ek Chotisi Love Story
	Film poster
Directed by	Shashilal K. Nair
Based on	A Short Film About Love; by Krzysztof Kieślowski
Produced by	Shashilal K. Nair
Starring	Manisha Koirala; Aditya Seal
Cinematography	Muraleedharan C.K.
Music by	Aravind Nirmal
Production; company	Paragon Pictures International
Release date	13 September 2002;
Running time	129 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Ek Chhotisi Love Story (English: One Small Love Story) is a 2002 Indian romantic film directed by Shashilal K. Nair. The film is an adaptation of Krzysztof Kieślowski's A Short Film About Love (Krótki film o miłości 1988). The movie generated a strong response at the box office.^[1] It was declared a "hit".^[2]

Plot[]

It is a story of 15-year-old boy (Aditya Seal) and his voyeuristic love of his nameless neighbor (Manisha Koirala) featuring bathroom masturbation scenes; which are virtually unseen in Bollywood. Soon his hobby turns into infatuation as he begins to follow her movements closely. He feels sexually drawn towards her when he sees her coming out of her bath, her hair dripping wet. He feels jealous when he catches her making love with her boyfriend (Ranvir Shorey).

The woman (Manisha) is unaware of her secret admirer. When the boy musters up the courage and speaks his heart to her, she takes it in her stride and gives him a little teaser on adolescent love.

The boy has been spying on a beautiful older woman who lives in an adjacent apartment complex. Using a telescope, he watches her every night performing mundane tasks. To get closer to her, he visits her at her workplace to repair cassettes. He also calls her anonymously to hear her voice.

He learns there is a problem with the milk deliveries for her apartment complex, so he takes the delivery job to be closer to her. One night he sees her return home after breaking up with her latest boyfriend, spilling a bottle of milk, and then weeping over another failed relationship. Later, he asks his grandmother, "Why do people cry?". After getting frustrated because of getting fired from the job and breaking up, she has a confrontation with the boy who follows her and admits that he has been visiting her just to see her, that he saw her crying, and that he's been watching her. That night, she arranges her bed so that the boy can see her with another boyfriend. When they are in bed, she tells him that they're being watched by someone across the way. The boyfriend rushes down to the street, calls out to him who comes downstairs, and then punches him in the face for peeping.

The next day, while delivering milk, the boy admits that he loves her and that he expects nothing in return. Overwhelmed by his feelings, he rushes up to the roof of the building, and then returns to her apartment and asks her for a date—and she accepts. During their date at a cafe, she learns that the boy has been watching her for a year and that he stole letters mailed to her by her boyfriend. At first, she's upset, but then she dismisses it. In response to his earlier declaration of love, she tells him that love doesn't exist—only sex. She shows him how to caress her hands the way lovers do.

Later that night at her apartment, after she showers, he gives her a small gift, but she says she's not a good person and doesn't deserve gifts. Crouching in front of him, she guides his hands onto her thighs and he has an orgasm. She tell her how the love just delights us briefly. After he rushes out of her apartment embarrassed and upset, she feels guilty and tries to communicate to him at her window—gesturing for him to call her and holding up a sign, but there is no response. Back in his apartment, he cuts his wrists with a razor blade. Later, she comes to his apartment to return the coat he left behind and learns from his grandmother that he tried to kill himself and was taken to hospital. She tells her, "I think I hurt him." His grandmother shows her the room and his telescope and tells her, "He's fallen in love with you."

In the coming days, she is unable to find him. When she tries to search him through the name his grandmother told her, it turned out to be a false name—she is clearly worried and concerned about his well being. One night, she receives a phone call, and thinking it is him, she acknowledges that he was right about love (the call is actually from someone with phone trouble). After days of waiting and watching his window with her binoculars, she finally sees he's returned. She goes to his apartment and his grandmother shows her to his room where she sees him sleeping, his wrists still bandaged. The grandmother prevents her from getting too close to him—even preventing her from touching his bandaged wrist. Noticing the telescope, she looks through it toward her own apartment and imagines what Tomek must have seen that night, watching her come home, spilling the milk, and weeping over another failed relationship. Then she closes her eyes and imagines him in her apartment with her, reaching out to comfort her—and she smiles.

Cast[]

Manisha Koirala as the woman
Aditya Seal as an unnamed boy
Ranvir Shorey as woman's boyfriend
Saroj Bhargava as the boy's grandmother

Release[]

Prior to the film's release, Koirala obtained a court order to stay the release of the film pending deletion of some shots she found to be objectionable. She claimed that she had been impersonated by a body double in some shots.^[3]^{[needs update]}