“Once I had a dream
I was falling from the sky
Coming down like running water…”
~ The War on Drugs.
July 1999.
Rupa’s father learns about her relationship with Michael and gives an ultimatum – leave her boyfriend or leave the apartment. Sharing the news with Michael, he happily asks to marry her. As they make arrangement for the wedding, Michael gets accepted into graduate school with a full fellowship.
When Samina is not with her two year old daughter, she’s painting. For hours. Locked away in her private studio thinking about the strange turn of events that led her to the life she currently lives. When Ronit interrupts her painting session to remind her of an upcoming interview in their new home, she flies into a rage and throws empty paint tubes at him.
Michael and Rupa get married in an uptown Mosque. Since neither of their friends can serve as witnesses to their marriage, two strangers happily stand in to serve as official witnesses. Later, Michael stops by the office of Rupa’s dad and informs him that he married his daughter, so she won’t be coming home anymore.
During Samina’s interview, the reporter asks about the challenges of being a full-time housewife and mother rather than a blockbuster film star, given how exhausted Samina appears. In the background, Ronit seethes, and once the interview concludes, starts another fight with Samina over money and tells her to have plastic surgery so she can appear younger and more energetic.
