Fired 2010

In the London headquarters of H.S.W.L, the egotistical CEO Joy Mittal [Rahul Bose] contemplates his tarnished record and the pressure to prove he can care for his family while steering through an ongoing economic meltdown that hits everyone. He is responsible for firing almost half the staff in London and enforcing sweeping budget cuts. In the ensuing turmoil, he decides to sack the manager Ruby Harmison [Militza Radmilovic], a 29-year-old with whom he has carried on an affair that bleeds into both his personal and professional life. After a day of extreme stress, Joy finishes the paperwork and steels himself for a board meeting that promises to redefine his career and his legacy.

FIRED follows the claustrophobic, real-time experience of Joy trapped in an empty office, a place seemingly cursed by the presence of those who have just lost their jobs. A supernatural influence takes hold, sharpened by the twin demons of Prozac and insecurity, turning a once carefree executive into a man on the brink of collapse. Within a couple of hours, Joy becomes a pleading, paranoid figure, seeing ghosts of his lover and her kid at every corner.

Every mundane corner of the office becomes a trigger for his paranoia, amplified by the anti-depressant pills and the weight of his decisions. The film portrays the last two hours of a CEO who has just dismissed almost half his workforce, with the office itself acting as a major character that heightens the suspense and sense of dread.

Throughout, the security guard Dinesh Lamba makes brief appearances that add to the sense of intrusion in Joy’s lonely workspace.