The director clapped and rubbed his hands together. “Alright! This is the main scene! Iske bina, phillum adhoori rehegi! Without this, we are nothing. So, come on! I want a top notch performance!”
‘And that’s what you’ll get’ thought actress Nidhi as she got ready for the scene. The director was a tubby, childish-looking man, who was good at heart, but proud. This showed in two ways, his tried (but failed) attempt to act like a sophisticated director, and again another failed attempt to fit into tight pants and force a belt on – though this was obviously more for the show.
But this time, she didn’t blame the director for acting this way. This was the crucial part of the film, the one that bound the whole thing together. The one she was about to mess up. She had tried hard not to face the fact, but there was no way of getting around it. She melted from the inside just by looking at the famous actor. Aditya was his name. A simple name that spoke of brilliance. And it was this very brilliance that caused him to be a heartthrob for girls all over the nation. She couldn’t do this. She wouldn’t be able to. Of course, she had ample time for this scene, the director, Mr. Roy, had set a whole day apart for it. But this fact didn’t help, it just added pressure.
Mr. Roy had been kind, but firm: This was the film that would be the turning point in his career. If it wasn’t a hit, his career, his dream, as a director would be over. So, for this mega-important movie, he had gone searching for the best actors and actresses – Aditya, the already loved heartthrob, and Nidhi, a new, but extremely talented, and promising pick. The idea behind the movie was simple. Preeta (Nidhi Joshi) and Armaan (Aditya Arvind) were childhood friends. Armaan’s father was a policeman, who taught both his son and Preeta about fire-arms and how to use them. Their friendship faded when Preeta moved away. Many a years later, due to a riot which occurred, they met again, but not as friends, as enemies. They were leaders of two large angry groups with opposing opinions over the riot. It got especially complicated as it had involved Armaan’s father. For a long time they communicated angrily with each other, not knowing who the leader of the other group was; however when they met face to face for a fight, things changed…they fell in love. It was a love story. ‘But that’s all it is!’ Nidhi reminded herself angrily, ‘a story! I can’t actually fall in love with the actor!’ Somehow, that never stayed in her head.
She had worked with Aditya in other scenes, but with other people, not just them alone. There was another problem, Aditya, whom directors praised to be a pleasure to work with, had become moody. He was just completely uninterested in the film.
“Chalo, Nidhi! Let’s go! Stop dreaming!” Mr. Roy shouted. The pretty girl nodded, sighed and went to the place of action.
“3,2,1 Action!”
Aditya said his dialogues in a convincing, yet somewhat dull manner. He wanted to get this over with. Nidhi inhaled deeply, waiting for her chance, any moment now… But when the time came, she froze. ‘Look at his face, at his face!’ she told herself, but to no avail. She stared fixedly at his feet.
“CUT!” Mr. Roy sighed, “Focus! Focus!”
Nidhi nodded. She had repeated these lines to herself all morning, she just had to rattle it all out, with some feeling. She had to convince herself that she loved Aditya. ‘That’s not hard’ she thought, and smiled to herself.
“Lights, Camera, Action!”
The bored actor repeated his lines, while Nidhi secretly admired his posture, muscles and cool hairstyle. When it was her turn, she spoke her lines with all her feeling (which was not much, at the moment), but focused the whole time on the handsome actor’s ankles!!
“No! NO! NAHIN! Nidhi! Look into his eyes! You love him! Tum usse pyaar karthi ho! PLEASE!” Mr. Roy bellowed.
Nidhi looked down sheepishly. She tried her best the next time, and concentrated on Aditya’s nose, but got caught anyway. In the fourth take, she looked above his head, but that was noticed as well.
Before the fifth attempt, the plump director got off his chair and lumbered towards Nidhi. He was shorter than her, but looked at her with an air of superiority. “Nidhi, tumhe kya ho raha hain? What is happening to you? You’ve always gotten it right in the first take, panch toh bhool jao (forget five)! Just because I said we had the whole day, doesn’t mean it has to take that long! Look into his eyes, how hard is that?!”
Aditya, who had had experiences feeling nervous while acting, teased, “I’m not so ugly, you know.” But the stressed Mr. Roy took the joke seriously, “Exactly! He’s not ugly! Sundar hain voh! He is beautiful! That is why he is loved! He’s good-looking, a great actor! It is an honour to work with him for a debut movie!” Aditya realized his joke had fallen flat, “Sir, please relax! It happens sometimes! She’ll get it right this time.” But he looked at Nidhi while saying this, making it clear that he too, was getting slightly weary at repeating his lines.
Finally, the actors took their places.
“Blah..blah..blah..Action!”
Aditya repeated his lines slowly with more enthusiasm and emotion, giving time for Nidhi to prepare. ‘His eyes, his eyes’ she thought. And slowly forced her eyes to meet his. And then it was all gone, all forgotten. It was as though she had never prepared, like it was her first time. She got lost within his eyes. Somewhere down, she realized that it was over, her career. She couldn’t even TALK in front of this actor, on or off screen. She would never be able to do any other film. She had just signed her ticket back home. She had wasted a good opportunity.
It felt like they stood there forever. Nidhi forced her eyes down, so that Aditya wouldn’t see her glistening eyes. Why? Why her? Why now? After the tears had cleared, she looked back up at the actor, waiting for his reaction. He nodded slightly, indicating she could still say her lines. She inhaled deeply, she’d give it a try. But just as she had parted her lips to start, it hit, with force. Laughter, waves and waves of it. Both hero and heroine, were chortling away with absolutely no reason. It went on and on. “Oh-oh, my God!” Aditya exclaimed after he got a slight hold of himself, “your look…” But he was hardly able to finish his sentence for they collapsed into another fit of giggles.
They had no idea that they were being recorded the whole time. The first bewildered Mr. Roy turned into a pleased one, and was exclaiming, “Beautiful! That was natural. More natural than the lovey-dovey dialogue!!” When the actors finally got over their giggle fit, it was their turn to be surprised…
After some discussion between everyone, certain things were decided and changed. At the end of the day everyone came out grinning, Nidhi had a slight bounce in her step, and Aditya couldn’t stop chuckling to himself at random times.
Of the year, only one film seemed to get exceptionally good reviews.
“Mohabbat Ka Yudh is a delight to watch, a great mix of comedy, drama, and love…well done!”
“…A wonderful experience watching it….it got my full attention, and I ended up slopping all my cold coffee down my best t-shirt, without realizing, for I feared that Preeta would not get well in time…”
“…Just shows that Girish Roy has a lot more potential than let on…Plus, the amazing chemistry between the two actors just caused the whole film to click together, they must truly be good friends..’
And they were .
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