Idea

• All you go through in life are already foretold in somebody else's dreams.
• When you meet him, he is your best friend or your worst enemy.
• There is just a thin line separating the two.

Concept

Paramapadam is a traditional game played in India . The traditional form is an offshoot of the Indian Karma Theory. Devoid of a clear concept of Heaven and Hell, Indians believe in the now and here as the fall-out of ones doings in the Past, popularly known as Karma. A game of paramapadam is a travel through the various permutations and combinations of the routes a soul might take in its journey. Effects of Karma are defined by the ladders and snakes which dot the game. A good Karma fetches you up on to a better plane of existence and a bad Karma sets you back on a lesser plane.

This is to give you a sense of the entire existence cycle and a figurative taste of the journey which is supposed to span over eons without going through it actually.

What if there exists a game of Paramapadam which puts you through the experience actually?

Storyline

Vishnu (18) and Thulasi (15) are the children of a businessman living in Secunderabad. Narottam(11) and Urmila (9) are their neighbours' children. The four of them form a group in terms of experiencing life. Vishnu being the eldest of the group is the icon of Narottam. Thulasi happens to be a person to emulate for Urmila. Though Vishnu and Thulasi feign that they do not like being the ideals of the two younger children, they nevertheless take to the two as the source of their entertainment. Vishnu likes Urmila and plays god to her whereas Thulasi is more close to Narottam.

All four go on a vacation to a village in the Rayalaseema region. The village is a moderate one adjoining a small township. A rustic village along the Tirumala range, it is lush and moderately pleasant to stay. The mystery of the place is a lone house in the outskirts of the village. The house has a lone occupant, an old man of 72, who is revered and feared by the villagers.

The house becomes their regular haunt and they visit it everyday to strike a conversion with the old man and to amuse themselves by playing small games in the open landscape around the house. The old man joins them in their games and enjoys himself like a kid.

When they run out of ideas to amuse themselves the old man offers to entertain them by playing a game of paramapadam. He takes them into the house for the first time which in itself is an adventure for the foursome. Once inside the house he unrolls an old leather scroll of the paramapadam beautifully hand painted.

He takes out a pair of dice made of human bodies and initiates them into the game. He tells them that the game can be played by any number and that there is a song for each square, which are in a book accompanying the scroll. He warns them that they could have adventures as they play.

It creates a mixed response from the four. Vishnu is sceptical and express his doubts as to how an ordinary game of snakes and ladders can be adventurous. Thulasi is awed by the pictures on the scroll and says adventure or no adventure, she is going ahead and playing. Narottam is gunning for the adventure as he is already awed and amused by the old man and to top it all his infatuation with Thulasi drives him. Urmila is scared.

They are magically transported to a mythical landscape. With a mix of fear and elation they go through an adventure in it and at the end of which the old man declares that they can't get out without finishing the game.

Treatment

The story will be treated as a larger narrative and individual adventures with smaller narratives will be strung through it till the end of the game played.

Back and forth travel to the same idea is a possibility. In such cases the core idea of the smaller narratives will be retained with small modifications to give rise to a completely new adventure.

Space and time will be treated as per the idea of the individual smaller narratives.

Attempt will be to finish the individual adventures within the given episode, and a lead given to the forthcoming adventure by the roll of the dice.