Saath Khoon Maaf - Who The Hell Is The Seventh Victim

The inevitable question lingering the minds of cine-goers after watching the eponymous movie is - Who the hell is the SEVENTH VICTIM?

To which the commonest responses have been - The accidental and unintentional death of the house maid (Usha Uthup)when the protagonist sets her house on fire, doesn't take the moral guilt away from Susana (Priyanka Chopra). In all likelihood,the housemaid's death signifies the seventh murder, however unintentional it may seem to be! The second common non conventional response has been - well after all those murders the protagonist has spiritually killed herself (substantiated by Dr Arun's {who plays the narrator in this movie} to his wife that Susana is dead, even though he witnesses her initiation ceremony at the church).

Sorry folks nice try! But I don't think these explanations hold much water or even explain everything with clarity.Let me then begin at the very beginning.Let's chart out the six deaths to dispel any doubts which might exist in the first place:

a)Edwin Rodrigues (Nitin Neil Mukesh)
b)Jamshed Singh Rathod (John Abraham)
c)Wasiullah Khan (Irfan Khan)
d)Nicolai vronsky (Aleksandr Dyachenko)
e)Keemat Ali (Anu Kapoor)
f)Dr Modhusudan Torofdar (Naseeruddin Shaha)

Now try and recall the closing scene in the movie where Dr Arun (Vivan Shah)after locating our protagonist at Goa, shares some thoughts with her, underneath a gangplank, on a beach in state of drunken stupor.While referring to her future husband Susanna drawls quite explicitly - "I will drrrink his blloooddd"

Now first forward a little bit after Susanna is inititated into the church (presided by a priest none other than Ruskin Bond himself!)- There's a surreal atmosphere on the screen as we witness the protagonist dancing in spiritual ecstasy to the tune of some Sufi music.She's given company by a saintly person bearing an uncanny resemblance to Jesus Christ (The atmosphere reminds of the traditional dance of the affianced couple couple after their wedding)

Now hear me out - this is my explanation. By virtue of being a nun, Susanna is married to the church, in other words she's spiritually and metaphorically wedded to Jesus Christ himself! According to christian teachings Jesus was crucified because of the sins of others. Susanna;s sins (that of bumping off all her six husbands) would have surely contributed to the death of Jesus.

While on the cross of crucification Jesus is supposed to have uttered - "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). This further explains why the name of the movie is "Saath khoon Maaf". What say Mr, Ruskin Bond?