Two guys wake up on the pavement with no memory of who they are. They look for what they can find on themselves. Nothing. No money, No phone, no wallet either. Their suits are a little torn after whatever happened the previous night. A brawl?
One of them sees there’s a number scribbled on his palm.
They stop a passerby, borrow a mobile and call.
A long-haired man with a biker-moustache and a cowboy hat answers with a drawl: “Get off the grid. If they know you are alive, you are both dead.”
“Huh? Who are we? Who will kill us?”
“You really don’t remember a thing?”
“Huh?”
“What do you know about Acid Factory?”
“Nothing.”
“Good. Don’t call me ever again.”
Click. The line goes dead.
They call again. The phone’s now switched off.
The passerby takes his phone back as he notices that the two are attracting attention from the locals who are whispering something about Acid Factory. Two well-built men come charging, as the guys sense trouble. They start walking away when one of the huge men screams: “Wait… I want my money back.”
The guys run as the followers chase them through blind alleys, rooftops, traffic and vegetable markets and lose the mob as a poster catches their attention. Acid Factory.
“Let’s watch it.”
“Got money?”
So they head to the parking lot and clean cars. Hardly two out of ten car owners tip. It takes them eight aching hours and 80 dirty cars each before they have enough for a movie ticket. They are hungry as hell but they want answers. As silly as it sounds, they had to watch the movie to get some clue.
Cut to: After the movie. At a seedy bar full of dangerous looking men.
“So what do you think?”
“What was the director thinking casting these clueless boys as men.Who are these fruitcakes?”
“I think they are bad actors and the filmmaker decided to make a movie as an inside joke. Or as an experiment, hoping that the lack of expression would look natural on those who don’t remember who they are.”
“Haha! Why stage elaborate car chases for backstories and subplots? Irrelevant to the central plot of five guys trying to figure out who can be trusted. For pace?”
“As if fast cars translate to fast pace. The film came to a halt during those explosions.”
“All these rich guys with money. It’s the have-money, will-blow attitude.”
“We could’ve had a meal instead. I am so hungry I can eat a stray dog.”
“Did you say dog?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I remember watching a film called Reservoir Dogs. Set in a warehouse.”
Turns out they aren’t the only ones discussing the film. They overhear a beefy wrestler-looking dude drenched in tattoos say that Acid Factory is ripped off from Unknown. Back at our table.
“I know why he mentioned Acid Factory.”
“Why?”
“Someone used Pentane, drugged us, took our money?”
“He could’ve said Pentane but he said Acid Factory.”
“Maybe because we wouldn’t know the effects of Pentane otherwise.”
By now, the thugs next table have decided to go ask for a refund.
“Let’s join them.”
“Seriously?”
“Don’t you want your hard-earned money back? Think about all that we could’ve done with 240 bucks.”
“Man…”
“What?”
“Remember that guy who chased us too said I want my money back?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Don’t you see it?”
“Holy Crap. We made Acid Factory?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“So what do we do now? We’re dead men.”
“I got a plan.”
They jump out through the restroom window, walk to the phone booth. They scan the pages and make a list of acid factories. Nine out of ten places don’t have what they are looking for. It’s close to midnight and they break into the last factory on their list and they spot that word they’ve been longing to see all evening: Pentane. “You sure about this?”
“Tell me… Do we want to remember we even saw this movie, let alone live with the fact that we made it?”
Moments later, a gas leak.
Siren rings. Security guards show up, beat the hell out of them.
The next morning, they wake up on the pavement outside with no memory of who they are. Just a couple of movie tickets. Acid Factory.
Acid Factory
Genre: Thriller
Director: Suparn Verma
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Fardeen Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Manoj Bajpai, DinoMorea, Danny Denzongpa, Dia Mirza
Storyline: Five men and a girl with perfect make-up wake up with no memory of who they are in an acid factory and must figure out who’s good and who’s evil to save themselves.
Bottomline: More than five stars. But wait, only two of them can act.
