Life Of Pi Page #6

Selvam ties the goat to the bars at the gate area where Pi

had been about to feed Richard Parker.

RAVI:

(Quietly, to Pi:
)

Don't be stupid! Say you're sorry.

Mother arrives at the gate with a WOMAN WORKER and rushes to

Pi's side.

MOTHER:

What have you done, Piscine? You

know what your father said about

coming back here.

PI:

I'm sorry. I was...

Mother turns to Father, quietly - referring to the goat:

MOTHER:

What are you thinking?

22.

FATHER:

This is between a father and his

sons.

(In Tamil:
)

Selvam, the gate.

MOTHER:

He said he's sorry. You want to

scar them for life?

FATHER:

Scar them? That boy almost lost his

arm!

MOTHER:

But he's still a boy!

FATHER:

He will be a man sooner than you

think, and this is a lesson I do

not want them ever to forget.

(Turning to Selvam:)

Selvam.

Selvam opens the far gate. Richard Parker re-enters the

hallway. He sees the goat and slinks forward, lowering his

body, his ears flattening against his skull. The goat

freezes. Everyone watches in silence, transfixed by the

intensity of the tiger. Pi watches the animal spirit glowing

up within Richard Parker's eyes as instinct takes over.

In a sudden, single burst, Richard Parker bolts the length of

the hallway, claws reaching out through the bars of the cage

toward the goat.

We don't see what happens next - but the family does.

ON THE CAGE:
Only a few seconds have passed, but Richard

Parker has already turned to go back into his enclosure, the

lifeless goat in his mouth. The family watches - Father is

impassive, Ravi traumatized; mother wraps her arms around Pi.

52 INT. PI AND RAVI'S BEDROOM, 1976 - MORNING 52

A rainy early morning in monsoon season. Pi (now 16) lies in

bed, reading "Notes from the Underground." Ravi is still

asleep. The radio plays in the other room.

NEWS ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO)

... and so has placed the country

in a State of Emergency.

(MORE)

23.

NEWS ANNOUNCER (ON RADIO) (CONT'D)

Under the directive, the states of

Gujarat and Tamil Nadu will be

placed under the direct authority

of the central government. Police

will be granted powers to arrest

and indefinitely detain citizens

responsible for the uprising.

Unauthorized...

Ravi's alarm goes off. Ravi reaches to shut it off.

55 55 EXT. PI'S SCHOOL, PONDICHERRY, 1977 - DAY 55 55

End of the school day. Pi, in raincoat, walks out to the

street, where student bicycles are lined up by the hundreds.

He gets his bike.

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Things changed after the day of

Appa's lesson. The world had lost

some of its enchantment. School was

a bore - nothing but facts,

fractions and French. Words and

patterns that went on and on. I

grew restless, searching for

something that would bring meaning

into my life. And then I met

Anandi...

59 I/E. DANCE STUDIO, PONDICHERRY, 1977 - DAY 59

CLOSE ON ANANDI (15) radiant, graceful, eyes aglow, dancing

with passionate intensity.

ADULT PI (V.O.)

Mother made me study music, and one

day my teacher came down with the

flu; he asked if I could take his

place one afternoon playing rhythms

for a dance class.

Pi watches her, hopelessly in love, absent-mindedly drumming

along. He is drumming for a class of a dozen female students;

a DANCE MASTER (female) accompanies the beat vocally -

"Tumtikita..." etc. The dance master claps her hands,

interrupting to teach.

DANCE MASTER:

No. If you do not concentrate, you

cannot express your love of God

through dance. Feel the ground

beneath your feet;

(MORE)

24.

DANCE MASTER (CONT'D)

open your gaze out onto the

horizon, let that spiritual energy

pulse through you and out into the

world through abinea. Anandi, come

to the front; lead them.

Anandi obeys; Pi watches her, lost in admiration, until the

teacher taps a wood block to get his attention. The girls in

the class giggle - Pi blushes, embarrassed.

60 I/E. THE TOWN MARKET/THE BANYAN TREE, 1977 - DAY 60

Anandi walks with two of her FRIENDS through the town

market.ACROSS THE MARKET, Pi hides behind a flower seller's

stall. Gathering his courage, he peers out, searching for

Anandi. She is nowhere to be seen. He walks into an open area

of the market that surrounds a banyan tree. Suddenly, he

hears a voice behind him.

ANANDI:

Why are you following me?

Pi turns - Anandi stands before him, her friends a short

distance behind her, eavesdropping.

PI:

What?

ANANDI:

You were following me.

PI:

(After a beat, to cover

his evident guilt:)

What does this mean?

Pi vaguely imitates the hand gesture - pinching the tips of

his fingers together - that he saw Anandi use in the dance

rehearsal. Anandi stares at him, bewildered.

PI (CONT'D)

In the dance, you went from Pataka,

which means the forest, and then

you did-then you did Samputa, which

means something that is hidden, and

after that you did this... and then

you did Chatura.

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