LIFEART STUDIO

Flashforward: (Saturday 5PM) Black. Sounds of horse hooves, raging motorbikes and some hard to hear German screams. Black opens to a massive drone shot of the Himalayas mountain top, just as a body comes flying off a road up above. Then a single gunshot, and another body comes flying off the same cliff, this time while screaming and still seated on a running motorbike. It's a long fall down.

Cut to Nick, 50, bearded, tanned and neglected, wounded (arm in bandages), blood splashed all over his face, riding a horse on a narrow road up the mountain.

Nick tries to ride as fast as possible while fully panicking from what’s happening around him and from being completely clueless when it comes to horses. Noise of motorcycles and shouts in German closing in. He keeps mumbling to himself… “What have I  done?. I’m sorry, I’m sorry”.

Looking ahead he is trying to make sense of what he sees. In the distance we can see what looks like to figures getting off their horse and running over a rope bridge.

Nick now rides more frantically, screaming “I’m sorry!. Claudia!!” at the top of his lungs. No answer.

He finally arrives at a rope bridge, gets off the horse and it is apparent that he is afraid of heights. His fear paralyzes him momentarily, but sounds of his chasers closing in pushes him to get on, and he manages to go through most of it. Just then

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

shots fired hitting Nick in the right thigh and he slips off the rope bridge. The camera slips with him (same POV), and tilts up to reveal the semi cloudy skies.

Back to now:

Cloudy skies. Nick on an Air-India flight looking out the window deep in thoughts. He is clean shaved, well dressed, and his skin white from not seeing much of the sun ever. A stewardess politely touches his shoulder asking him to pull his seat up for landing. This apparently surprises Nick who jumps up and out of his deep thoughts, and with that spills the hot coffee drink he had on his tray table. It goes directly down his groin.

The young stewardess apologises but Nick won’t make a fuss of it - he puts out a quiet scream through his lips as the coffee burns his crotch, but keeps smiling at the pretty stewardess. Learning of the upcoming landing gets him excited (and a little stressed): he starts tidying his belongings, lacing his shoes, pulling the back of his seat back up, and securing his seatbelt. We quickly learn that Nick is a tidy guy who likes everything in order and under control.

After the landing in Mumbai, while waiting for his luggage Nick receives a call from his lawyer. We learn that his soon to be ex-wife filed another claim. Nick must be back in 10 days for deposition, otherwise he loses his house and most bank accounts. “But I gave her everything she wanted, what is this all about now?! I literally just landed in India - my first time off in 25 years, and I have to be back in 10 days?!” It sounds like Nick is dealing with a long and complicated divorce with a hurt and revengeful person he doesn’t like much at this point.

Nick is trying to get on the train that goes to Goa. The airport and train station are packed with typical Indian crowds and Nick - a fish out of water - tries to best adapt to the madness. He finally makes it on the train very last minute.

He finds his seat next to a chatty and curious old lady and Nick is happy to share that he just landed from California, it's his first time in India, and is heading to Goa to meet his 25 year old daughter that grew up away from him with her mom in Germany. Nick has always screwed up any attempt to get closer to his daughter and really get to know her, but this time things will be different and he will make it right between them.

While they talk the woman moves her head from side to side in a customary Indian fashion, and Nick is not sure what that means - “is that a yes?, are you agreeing with me right now?”

During this introductory beat we learn that Nick is a social person, easily connects to people around him and has a witty and sharp sense of humor. He’s also fairly tidy, likes things in a specific order (sets his bags next to him in a specific manner), and is pretty addicted to his phone (work), so much so that he misses a lot of the changing views as the train leaves the busy noisy and smelly Mumbai towards the beautiful open plains as we near Goa.

The old lady teases Nick that he won’t do very well with his daughter if he keeps his mind stuck in his work and misses what’s happening around him. This makes Nick laugh - story of his life - and upon taking her advice raises his head away from his phone to discover beautiful Goa unfolding before his very eyes. The sight takes his breath away, he puts his phone away and is again excited to go do the right thing and finally be a dad to his estranged daughter Claudia.

Nick tries to find his way to the guest house where he is set to meet Claudia. He hops on a Rikshe and asks to go to The Yeshdeep guest house. Driver not understanding which guest house to go to - “Yahsdeep Guesthouse or Yeshdeep Inn Guest House?? They are on the opposite side of town!”. After some continued misunderstandings with

the Rikshe driver that doesn’t seem to like Nick very much, they make it to the right place.

Nick and Claudia meet. Claudia is a stunning 25 year old blond girl, dressed hippie-cool like and glowing from the inner depth of her free spirited soul. She’s cool and sweet and very similar to Nick in her witty sense of humor. Together with her are two friends - Yulia (her college friend from Germany with whom she’s been traveling these past few months) and Kaori - a young Japanese traveler.

The girls are clearly still buzzing on last night’s ecstasy and the first meeting with Nick is both sweet and uncomfortably awkward for everyone.

Claudia finally breaks the ice by telling Nick he has to join the girls to a full moon party tonight. This is completely out of Nick's element (the guy does not drink, smoke, or use pain killers or drugs) but he ends up joining them.

The party is the most amazing scene ever. Nick is introduced to Leo - a cool German traveler dude (27) that seems to know everyone around and helps our group hook up on drugs. Whatever you need Leo gets!

The girls and Leo persuade Nick to take ecstasy with them and after some funny beats he agrees. Within half an hour Nick’s eyes go wide open and he goes on the trip of his life.

They dance and laugh at this amazing party. This is a spiritual and emotional experience that is bigger than anything he has ever experienced before, and doing it together with Claudia is the most heavenly thing in the world. Nick discovers things about himself and about the universe that he has never imagined existed.

His connection with Claudia is pure love. Anything else that existed prior to this seems entirely meaningless. Things are going better than he dared to imagine!

(during the party sequence we see Leo in the background interacting with a couple of other young girls, and then a group of some men - something that could be interpreted as a fun loving “drugged” hugs, or on the verge of violence - hard to tell).

At the height of the party and Nick’s ecstasy trip, he decides to call his soon to be ex-wife with ideas of peace and harmony. He walks on the beach FaceTiming her. “You know, things don’t have to be like this between us… Why don’t we solve this with love?”

His ex-wife doesn't seem to take this very well “You don’t know how to love Nick! You fucked me! For over a decade you’ve been wasting my time, think calling me an hour after landing in India is suddenly gonna change all that?! You better be back here on time for the deposition or I’m going all out on this divorce! I will leave you with nothing!”. She is being nasty and the conversation goes steaming. Nick tries to have her understand but is soon pulled into this symphony of screams that reaches its climax with Nick throwing his phone to the ocean in a moment of anger. For a brief second he feels free and liberated - then freaks out running to the water looking for it

Waking up the day after the party still buzzing, Nick is devastated about throwing his phone in the water. He’s looking for it helplessly on the beach, on all four - combing the sand with his hands… Apparently he hopes the tide will push it onto the beach... no chance in hell to find it. Claudia and Yulia looking at him with pity. Him throwing his phone in anger while tripping was cute, and seeing him all stressed up looking for it now on all four is even cuter!. Amazingly enough Nick finally decides to go with it... stay disconnected from any mobile, texts or work emails for the rest of his trip. This time he’ll do things differently and spend real quality and uncompromising time with Claudia! This is a BIG step in the change that is starting to take place in him and Claudia is taking notice.

Nick and Claudia coming back from a day at the beach on motorcycles, local cops holding sticks call them to stop at a routine checkup. Claudia, already experienced with such scenarios, slows down towards them and then hits the gas skillfully slipping between the two cops and makes a run for it. Nick is not sure what’s up with Claudia but follows her lead and speeds up. One of the cops throws his police stick right in his wheels, and Nick goes flying off the bike. The police officers start shouting at Nick, who’s embarrassed and not sure what to do. Claudia can’t believe her sloppy nerdy dad, comes back around, and skillfully negotiates a deal with the cops… $20 “bakshis” and they’re free to go.

Sunset on a beach coffee house - together with Leo and a few other of their young friends. The group are all laughing with and at Nick for his failed cop escape scenario earlier today.

Then a man arrives towards the table (we’ve seen him for a brief moment at the full moon party having some tense words with Leo). He’s angry and stressed - and grabs one of the girls from the table - pulling her away from the group. Leo stands up to intervene - the girl doesn’t seem to want to go with the guy and the situation becomes serious for a minute.

They step away from the table and it's hard to tell what the commotion is about, but just as it looks like this will turn into a fist fight Leo seems to back off and lets the girl go. He then comes back to the group and shrugs the whole thing off with a smile - this guy is this girl’s older brother - he doesn't agree with her travel plans and wants to take her back home… no big deal - he can have her! (Leo seems to laugh about this incident but we can see he is really stressed about it) [background: this is a girl that wants to get to the Aryan village - and Leo was in the midst of transporting her - but her family won’t have it and sent her brother to bring her back home. Losing his precious cargo is what spurs Leo to start texting.]

Nick and Claudia now in a more private conversation, Nick tells her of his divorce - some personal stuff that she actually never knew about him. They get emotional talking about what a great time they had together and how they finally connected - they wish it would have happened earlier… and soon it's time for him to get back to real life.

Bummer…..

While this is happening, Leo sitting at the side of the table is texting with someone. He then raises his phone - “Smile everyone!” and snatches a picture of the group. Everyone continues conversing and Leo keeps texting. He then asks Yulia quietly for Claudia's last name. A friend of his is asking - he’s seen her picture and thinks he knows her.

Yulia gives him Claudia’s last name with a wink, happy to potentially set up her girlfriend with another secret admirer, Claudia has many.

Nick is hungry, dreaming of a good steak. He is a big meat lover but has not touched any since arriving in India. So far his food experience has been mainly vegetables and constant diarrhea… Leo tells him about a place nearby where you can get anything. Nick: “Ribs?”, Leo: “Short Ribs!”.

Yulia, Claduia, Leo and Nick in a local village “restaurant” consisted of several low tables surrounded by pillows on a small balcony. A few small groups of travelers sitting low around the tables, smoking Chillums, eating and drinking. Leo asks the owner for something, Claudia in a heated discussion with Nick on meat eaters vs vegetarian.

Claudia is an active vegetarian and has a hard time with Nick’s love of meat.

Next thing we hear a commotion from the back yard behind the restaurant balcony: restaurant owner (old Indian woman) waving a big knife while running after a small screaming pig, with the intention of slaughtering and cooking it for Nick. The Pig knows his death is approaching and frantically runs between the dinners - some freakout and some hysterically laughing. Tables turn, plates and cups fall to the floor, a waiter trips over the screaming little pig spilling an entire bowl of soup onto some poor guy's head. A messy scene.

Through all this Claudia pushes Nick to cancel the order! But Nick, stubborn, won’t have it - he wants his meat!

The old restaurant owner is able to finally corner the little pig just behind Nick, and with a quick slash she finishes him, blood splashing all over. She turns to Nick with a grin, as if to say - “Yay! I got it for you!”

However by now Nick is green from disgust, can’t really handle the act of slaughtering the tiny little screaming Pig. He turns to the group: “ok, forget everything I said about this. Let’s get the hell out of here!”

The group takes off in a haste - Claudia turns to the old sweet owner signaling “I’m sorry”. Owner just standing there all bloodied and confused.

The following afternoon, the bigger friend group in a final setting (Claudia, Yulia, Leo, and a bunch of other people we’ve been seeing in the Goa scenes). Nick is to join them as soon as he’s done packing for his return flight later tonight.

Claudia and Yulia excitedly plan their next move - traveling North towards Rishikesh for a 10 days Vipassana retreat at the world famous Swami G Ashram. This is something they’ve been talking about doing since their first day in college. Leo tells them about a great hike they should take after the retreat. It’s one of the most famous tracks up the himalayas - and this is the perfect time of year to do it - something they shouldn't miss! The girls tease him that if it's so great he should join them. “I wish I could come with you but I have to go back to Mumbai for some business…”

Nick joins the group and says his goodbyes. It’s an emotional moment for everyone, but especially for Claudia. She didn’t expect to, but now that he's about to leave, a burst of emotions takes over her. She cries on his shoulder, like a little girl would. It’s a first for them both, and it hits Nick that he’s leaving her again. With a heavy heart they part and Nick goes in the Taxi, taking off towards the airport. Claudia is standing there, wiping her tears. She can deal with it, she always did.

Suddenly she hears Nick behind her. “So what’s that 10 day Vipassana thing all about?!” Claudia can’t believe her ears. She turns around to see Nick, suitcase at his feet, standing there with his arms wide open. She runs for a hug. “I’m staying with you baby, things are done differently this time!!”

The entire table cheers, then immediately starts teasing Nick re joining the Vipassana. “You’ll never make it through 10 days of Yoga, meditation and complete silence...this is going to be a funny experience for sure!”. Nick is slightly embarrassed - he didn’t really think it all the way through, but he’ll prove them all wrong.

As all this is going on, we see Leo, at the very end of the table - not so happy with Nick deciding to stay.

Flashback: Young Claudia awaits her father to arrive for Christmas, but he once again fails to arrive. Claudia extremely disappointed, Anna standing beside her and explaining that maybe next year he will come. Never lose hope.

Back to Now:

Nick, Claudia and her two girlfriends are on a train heading to Rishikesh. Claudia looks out the window and is lost deep in her thoughts. Nick is chatty and happy, apparently they smoked a large G’aras (local weed) joint prior to boarding the train. Nick seems to have opened up to a whole new world of experiences, drugs and spirituality.

A hollyman (Sadhu) walks into their cabin, long grey rasta hair and beard, his right arm raised up in the air and long nails crawling from his paws like snakes. He smiles and sits down in front of Nick.

Nick, stoned, is fascinated by this and starts a funny conversation, in which we learn that the Sadhu, named Amar, has kept his hand raised for 38 years in devotion to Hindu deity Shiva. One day in 1970, Amar left his job, wife, and three children in order to pursue his devotion to Shiva; three years later he felt he was still too connected to the luxury of mortal life, and decided to raise his arm and keep it raised in order to disconnect himself from said luxuries of mortal life. This meant dealing with immense pain for quite a while, but it eventually subsided and now he can’t even use the raised arm if he wanted, as it atrophied and is now stuck in its current raised position.

Nick is super impressed by the sacrifice Amar made for his beliefs, reflecting on his own life decisions to neglect his family in order to follow his personal truth. “This hasn’t worked out well for either of us”- Nick jokes… Sadhu is not sure what Nick means, but takes it with a loving smile. As the train reaches the Rishikesh station Nick stands up and high-fives Sadhu’s raised hand, making one final joke re the raised hand before departing: “don’t forget to ask permission before speaking in class!”.

Claudia is not very happy with her father’s childish and somewhat condescending behavior, but says nothing.

The group arrives in Rishikesh and after a short walk from the train station arrive at the Ganges river which they cross by boat towards the Ashram that lies on the other side of the river. The crossing of the river is magical and the rest of the way to the Ashram is colorful and mesmerizing - walking through the humming bazar allys amongst the many holy cows roaming freely between the crowds.

They finally arrive at the Ashram gates and are acquitted in the retreat that is just about to begin. The not so nice Ashram manager (a 60 year old french Guy that has visited the Ashram some 15 years back and never left) greets them with a snorty kind of approach and quickly runs the strict rules of the retreat: waking up at 5am, lights off at

7pm, 3 yoga sessions per day, 2 vegetarian meals per day, and no talking allowed - for 10 days!

The girls are super excited and surprised to bump into Leo - he’s here too! - His trip to Mumbai got canceled last minute and he decided to come join the girls on this retreat - after all this Ashram is his favorite one in India!… This is all too cool.

Nick is happy to see the girls and Leo vibing and excited, but all of this Ashram vibe doesn't sit well with him and he finds it really hard to fit in - just as the girls told him would happen! But he won’t allow himself to give in and decides to pull through and prove them (and himself) wrong - whatever it takes!.

Over the next days Nick goes through things he never thought possible, and with everyday that goes by the Ashram walls seem to be closing in on him. His back hurts from the long yoga sessions three times a day, and his stomach is not agreeing with the food that is being served at the Ashram either. He’s totally not cool with the waking up and going to sleep hours imposed on him, and worst of all, he can’t handle the no talking part.

By the 8th day (Saturday) Nick is completely losing it. By now he’s been skipping the Yoga and long meditation sessions since his entire body is sore and he can barely sit or walk. Instead he starts setting ‘traps’ for people who come to use the joint bathroom, trying to lure them into a conversation. He sits on one of the stools and waits for someone to come in. As soon as they start their business he starts a conversation with them, from the neighboring stool. They are of course trapped, can’t leave, and cannot answer him either. After a few unsuccessful attempts he moves on to physically grabbing the next person that walks in with hopes of engaging in a conversation: “Man, I cannot do this, not talking is killing me! How are you even handling this?!” The young guy is horrified and with hand gestures explains that talking is not allowed!

Nick gives up, it's no use - no one will talk. Defeated, he goes back to the main court and joins the mass meditation session taking place. As he sits down, really trying to meditate and fit in... a tap on his shoulder.

He looks up to see three goon Ashram monks standing above him. Without saying a word they pick him up, escorting him outside. Nick is trying to negotiate this situation but discovers the three to be strong, stubborn and silent. The three monks show Nick the way out and shut the Ashram gates behind him.

Claudia catches a glimpse of the action just as her dad’s thrown out and rushes towards the gates, but is unable to do anything to help him.

Nick, on the street floor outside the Ashram, is pretty shocked from what just happened. The gate suddenly opens again only to have his bag and belongings thrown at him, and instantly shuts again.

Through a shot from Nick’s back as he faces the Ashram gates we get a quick glimpse of confused Claudia, Leo is beside her, and whispers something in her ear that seems to comfort her.