Ray’s burning questions answered

Celebrating 100 years of Satyajit Ray, Netflix released an anthology series inspired by the legendary filmmaker’s short stories. It consists of four episodes: Forget Me Not, Bahrupiya, Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa and Spotlight.

Each episode narrates a completely distinct story as themes of ego, envy and betrayal come forth.

Forget Me Not shows Ipsit’s (Ali Fazal) descent into chaos when he is unable to recall an encounter, while Bahrupiya follows Indashish’s (Kay Kay Menon) thirst for revenge through disguises.

Hungama Hai Klon Barpa is the tale of singer Musafir Ali, who turns out to be a kleptomaniac and meets one of his previous victims (Gajraj Rao) during a train journey and Spotlight depicts the story of actor Vik (Harshvarrdhan Kapoor), whose insecurity skyrockets when the religious leader Didi (Radhika Madan) hogs all attention.

With entire storylines executed in each episode, viewers could be left with doubts regarding key moments in the plot.

We attempt to answer your burning questions:

Why does Maggie want revenge?

In ‘Forget Me Not’, Ipsit had an affair with his colleague Maggie (Shweta Basu Prasad), which resulted in her getting pregnant. He insisted on her getting an abortion to protect his secret.

Maggie Waited for fourth months, hopeful that Ipsit would change his mind about the abortion. He didn’t, and she went through with the abortion of ‘Maria’, the name she decided on after the nurse informed her it would have been a girl.

When Ipsit took Maggie to shop for his daughter Ananya with his wife Amala, she felt hurt and decided to take revenge against him.

What is Maggie’s entire plan?

Maggie felt Ipsit took a part of him, and she wished to take something from him as revenge, and she knew he was the most proud of his unfailing memory. She decided on a plan to take it away from him, but knew she could not execute this alone.

Ipsit was a horrible person, and everyone around him was read to betray him and help Maggie get her revenge.

His friend Anil aka Patchy had moved to Bombay and worked as a liftman. Ipsit convinced him to join his company Chrysalis instead, but it turned out he had hired him as a peon, leaving Patchy distraught.

He acted as if he knew about Ipsit’s time in Aurangabad and he was there as well.

Another one of his friends, Gary, was treated like a slave by Ipsit, leaving all the smaller jobs for him.

He had Ipsit’s password, and uploaded fake edited pictures of Aurangabad on his phone, making it seem as if they were clicked during his ‘trip’ with Rhea Saran (Anindita Bose).

He also emptied his car’s diesel supply, and Ipsit felt he had forgotten to refuel, adding to his restlessness.

Ipsit also convinced the board of investors that his partner Rahul was unproductive in a partnership, earning his wrath as well.

Even the building’s watchman Raju agreed to be part of the plan after Ipsit asked him to return the money he gave for his mother’s cancer treatment, while everybody else had considered their contribution a donation.

The hotel reservations in Aurangabad are revealed to be made by someone else and Rhea turns out to be Maggie’s sister.

The plan was originally supposed to just trouble Ipsit, but he became insane and he ended up at a Psychiatric hospital.

How does Indrashish change his appearance?

In ‘Bahrupiya’, Indrashish has a comfortable job at a computer firm, but longs to become a makeup artist. A good-hearted individual, he feels wronged by those around him.

When his grandmother passes away, she leaves him 75 lakh rupees as well as the book ‘Bahroopi’ on prosthetics. She was considered a genius, who made makeup and prosthetics products for America Film Studios.

Indrashish follows the instructions in the book to change his appearance and carry out plans to take revenge against those who wronged him.

What is the ‘disease’ Musafir Ali suffers from?

Throughout ‘Hungama Hai Kyon Barpa’, Musafir Ali humorously struggles to name his ‘disease’ of stealing.

He suffers from Kleptomania, which is a mental disease that produces the strong urge to steal items that aren’t required and often have little value.

Ironically, it turns out that Baig is a Kleptomaniac himself and he steals Musafir Ali’s ring given to him by Ghulam Ali.

What is ‘Rooh Safa’?

Towards the end, Musafir Ali goes to pawnshop ‘Rooh Safa’ (roughly translated to ‘soul cleanse’), as instructed by Baig to donate the watch ‘Khusbakht’, that he had earlier stolen.

The pawnshop owner reveals that people who suffer from kleptomania donate the items at Rooh Safa after their conscience comes to bite them.

Wajad Ali Shah’s chillum, Lord Mountbatten’s pyjamas and even the Satyajit Ray’s short stories that were stolen; the shop has quite a collection.

When Musafir Ali mentions that he stole the watch from Baig, the owner reveals that he is a regular at the pawnshop and a kleptomaniac as well.

To his surprise, the aforementioned ring was also donated by Baig at Rooh Safa.

Why is Vik insecure?

In ‘Spotlight’, Vik is a superstar actor known for his ‘look’. However, after he is constantly typecast as ‘one-look Vik’, he begins feeling insecure about his prowess as an actor.

The amplify his insecurity, the hotel he is staying at for a shoot is taken over by ‘Didi’ and her devotees. She receives special treatment and everything Vik wants is given to her instead, from the ‘Madonna’ room to swimming pool access.

Who is Didi?

When Vik finally encounters Didi, she turns out to be a young girl who actually looks up to the actor, and has wanted to meet her for a long time.

Being a fair girl at ‘Suryodaya orphanage’, she felt bound to be molested eventually, and ran away instead. She did menial jobs, but realised wouldn’t survive in this world for long with her skin.

She reveals that to survive, she developed her own ‘look’, where she would stare down those with ill intentions and make them feel startled. This look gave her the money, respect and devotees she has today.

After a woman shelter is opened in her name, she feels as if she’s right back where she started from. Seeking to run away, she is aided by Vik in her escape.


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