In 24 Hours with Gaspar, a mysterious black box appears that is said to have magical abilities.
The black box is a magical object that, according to Babaji, the man who raised Gaspar, has the ability to grant people’s wishes.
Later in the film, Wan Ali’s brother-in-law, Bachtiar S. Abdillah, mentions that the box holds all the knowledge of this earth.
Some say it can bring great fortune and has the power to hold people’s most precious treasures.
However, Kik calls the story of the black box an improvised Vaishnavism legend that Babaji told Gaspar to divert his mind from his parents. The story is not true at all.
The story of the black box
Gaspar hears about the black box for the first time when Babaji tells him the story of Shri Krishna, Indra, and Govardhan Foothill.
As per the story Babaji shares with Gaspar, the villagers of Govardhan Foothill used to give offerings to the god, Indra, to ask him to bless them with rain for their crops.
When Indra started becoming arrogant, Shri Krishna decided to teach him a lesson. Shri Krishna convinced the villagers not to give offerings to Indra.
Instead, they should give them to Govardhan Hill, which was storing all the rainwater people needed.
Indra, deprived of worship, got angry and made it rain for seven days and seven nights. Shri Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill with his little finger and let the villagers take shelter under it for those seven days and nights.
On the fifth day, Achal, a farmer who had taken shelter under the hill, discovered a mysterious box as black as night. Babaji claims that the box was magical. It had powers.
When Gaspar asks if it is like Aladdin’s lamp, Babaji affirms, explaining that the black box has the power to grant wishes.
The black box reappears
While investigating the disappearance of his childhood friend, Kirana, Gaspar learns a lot more about Kirana’s father, Wan Ali, who sold his own daughter.
Wan Ali has the black box. He came across it because of his brother-in-law, Bachtiar S. Abdillah, who possessed it before him.
At that time, Bachtiar S. Abdillah’s financials were fine, but Wan Ali was in crisis. Bachtiar S. Abdillah shows Wan Ali the box and confesses that it has brought him great fortune.
Wan Ali eyes the black box, and to get his hands on it, he kills Bachtiar S. Abdillah, the man who helped him out of bankruptcy.
Wan Ali made Bachtiar S. Abdillah’s wife, Bu Tati, believe that her husband killed himself and left her a mountain of debt.
At the end of the film, Gaspar comes across the black box at Wan Ali’s hideout. All he sees inside is his childhood friend, Kirana, in a corner.
While the film goes hard on the story of the black box, how much of an effect the black box really has on the trajectories of the characters remains a mystery.
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