| In Which Annie Gives Those Ones | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Pradip Krishen |
| Written by | Arundhati Roy Arjun Raina |
| Starring | Arundhati Roy |
| Release date(s) | 1989 |
| Running time | 112 Mins |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones is a 1989 Indian TV film. Screenplay by Arundhati Roy (who also acts in the film), directed by Pradip Krishen, and starring Arjun Raina as the title character, along with Roshan Seth and Shahrukh Khan. This film was the recipient of two National Awards in 1989.
Set in the 1970s, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones is a funny film of architecture students in their final year of college.
The film was part autobiographical with Roy recounting her own experiences of studying in the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, a leading architecture institute in India.
Contents |
Anand Grover, better known as Annie, is victimized for making fun of his principal, Y.D. Billimoria (popularly known as Yamdoot or Hell's messenger), years ago. At the School of Architecture, New Delhi, Annie is repeating his fifth year for the fourth time. He spends his hours in the hostel which is the best part of his life, by 'giving it those ones' — indulging in daydreams of social uplift. His latest idea is to plant fruit trees on either side of railway tracks, where rural India defecates daily. The fecal matter will provide the necessary compost for the trees, while the trains, with sprinklers attached, will automatically water the plants.
Annie keeps two hens in his room and earns a modest sum by selling the eggs, until one day his friend, Mankind, and his Ugandan roommate, Kasozi, make a roasted meal out of them. Soon, however, hirsute Arjun and his girlfriend Radha — a non-conformist student who steals cigarettes from Yamdoot and talks back to the teachers — present Annie with a rabbit.
Many adventures later, the day to submit the thesis draws near. Annie, urged by his friends, apologises to Yamdoot. A panel of judges call the students one by one for their final interviews and the tension mounts. Radha goes dressed in a saree but wears a man's hat to detract from her sober attire. To make sure that Annie gets a sympathetic hearing from the hostile panel, Radha and Arjun work out a plan. Just when Annie is called in, Yamdoot receives a phone call from his dominating deep-voiced mother, in actuality Mankind. The trick works and the weary panel gives Annie a good grade.
At the party after the graduation ceremony Annie arrives with heavy books under his arm, his hair shaved off and a butterfly painted on his head. He informs his friends that he has decided to study law and then sue Yamdoot. But subsequently, Annie joins the staff at the architecture school and, when Yamdoot retires, even becomes the head of the Department of Design.
The movie features Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan in one of his earliest roles, as an architecture student.