Within a Glance
Logline: Trepidation ensues when a news journalist travels to Mumbai for an assignment on the eunuchs of India.
Synopsis: Weird. Darcy Bloodworth, a news journalist for an investigative television program, can’t quite seem to dismiss the peculiarity of having reoccurring nightmares of castration, and now being assigned to a story on castrated men. His assignment: the hijras of India, a community of voluntarily emasculated men who believe they are endowed with the power to bless or curse, weaving fear and reverence through Indian society. Although they dress and behave like women, they claim they belong to neither gender. They are a subculture cloaked in mystery, and Darcy and his crew are starting to think that perhaps they really are just too taboo to interview. After all, he and his crew haven’t even been in Bombay for a day and they already lost two interpreters due to freak accidents. Again, weird … and it’s about to get even stranger.
When Darcy meets his third interpreter, Tatum, a storm gathers. Half Indian, half English and hauntingly enchanting, Tatum embodies everything Darcy’s obese wife lacks. The moment of their encounter temptation blows and Darcy gallantly battles the seductive winds fearing surrender will bring his nightmares of castration to life. The storm darkens when Darcy persuades the guru of a hijra household to let him interview the hijras of her bathhouse. It is there that Darcy meets Mallika, a hijra so beautiful one could believe she was born a woman. Mallika vies aggressively for Darcy’s attention, only to find herself in the shadow of the flourishing attraction between him and Tatum. And the less attention Mallika receives, the more disturbing she becomes.
But it’s not only jealousy aggravating Mallika. No, it’s something else. Something menacing. Something shocking. Something that when revealed, will put Darcy and Tatum in the gravest of danger.
WITHIN A GLANCE is a drama/suspense/thriller enhanced by unique and compelling characters, while introducing the mysterious and peculiar world of the Indian hijra.
