WHEN THERE WERE COLORS
Mausam is a young woman who is going through a breakup and is in the process of moving
on from the heartbreak. Her past is haunting her like a ghost and quite literally, it takes the
embodiment of a ghost. She soon realizes that her longing to stay with this ghost is at the
cost of her healthy happy life.
Scene 1
Color palette is hues of black, grey, and white
Mausam is sitting in front of the computer.
Shots of Mausam’s room (unmade bed, piled up clothes, stocked up dishes, and trash on
floor)
She is staring at the computer screen with half closed eyes. She sighs and slouches down.
The ghost (blue colored) appears behind Mausam and directs her head towards a box on
the table.
Mausam smiles and reaches out for the box; she opens the box and sees chocolate
wrappers, dried flowers, and photos of a person with her. She rests her head on the ghost as
she continues to look at the picture.
The ghost lifts her and proceeds to dance with her in the room….Mausam giggles and
enjoys the dance.
Camera fades out.
Scene 2
Mausam is walking with her friends. She is not smiling, and her gait is slow and lousy while
her friends are happy. As they are walking, they walk past a bench. Mausam looks at it for a
short sec and moves forward. She suddenly hears a whistle and turns around.
She sees the ghost sitting on the bench and stretching his hand out to her. She sprints back
to the bench while her friends are left behind confused. She sits and embraces the bench as
she gets flashbacks of the past where she is sitting with the same person.
Simultaneous shots of the past and present on the bench. Camera fades out.
Scene 3
Mausam is sitting with her friend in her room. The friend looks around her room and frowns.
She looks at Mausam’s dark circles (extra close up shot of Mausam’s eyes) and feels sad.
Mausam takes a photo in her hand and keeps looking at it. The friend quickly takes the
photo out of her hand and gives her the smartphone instead. Mausam sees a picture of a
smart boy on the screen with the name “Arav,” while the friend nudges her playfully.
Mausam gives a hesitant smile. Shortly after she opens his chat box and sends “hi” to which
Arav replies instantly. Suddenly the ghost, now tiny, emerges from the screen but Mausam
brushes it off.
Soon Mausam is found always on the phone, texting Arav while the ghost keeps pushing
himself into Mausam’s attention, but Mausam continuously pushes the ghost away.
Scene 4
Arav texts Mausam about meeting and she quickly sends a thumbs up. She starts getting
ready and the ghost comes again (dark blue) and grabs her arms. Mausam tries to free
herself but the ghost does not let go, she shakes her hands off and the ghost disappears.
Mausam is walking on the road and sees Arav from afar. They wave at each other and start
sprinting towards each other. As Mausam gets close to Arav, Mausam suddenly looks to her
side and sees the guy from the past and stops abruptly. The guy makes eye contact and
pauses awkwardly. Mausam starts hyperventilating, her face is flushed and she is sweating
a lot. Her eyes switch between the guy and Arav. Arav, now worried, proceeds to move
closer to Mausam but she takes backward steps while gasping for air and runs away. As she
runs she is getting negative flashbacks.
(Mausam holding the guy by his leg and crying; the guy shouting at Mausam; Mausam
pulling the guy but him pushing her away and leaving)
Mausam swings open her door and rushes in. She crashes on the floor and breaks down in
tears. The ghost emerges (now black) and tries to cover Mausam all over but she pushes
him away. The ghost is overpowering and has taken a gooey form with many hands trying to
submerge Mausam inside it.
The camera rotates at 360 degrees and Mausam’s room turns into a white vast area
representing Mausam’s inner consciousness.
The ghost has submerged Mausam’s complete lower body inside it and is slowly engulfing
her more while she is trying to free herself. Her hands on the floor, fingers trying to take hold
of the plane, pushing herself forward. She notices a small grey figure lying a few steps away
from her and stretches her hands out to the figure. The figure has its back towards Mausam.
The figure is Mausam herself and she is weak and crippled with eyes nearly shut. Suddenly
the figure opens her eyes and turns around to look at Mausam. The figure lets out some
tears. Shivering, she pushes herself towards Mausam. Both of them trying their best to reach
each other. Simultaneous shots of both their hands coming close.
They both finally hold hands. The scene fades to white light and a handcuff is shown
breaking.
Scene 5
Color palette is now pastel colors
Mausam is walking on the road. She is alone and smiling. She walks past the same bench
and stops to look at it. She suddenly feels a slight pull on her hand. Mausam looks to her
side and sees her own figure smiling softly. They both walk away from there.
Scene fades.