Rishbala OS: Homecoming..

The car stopped in front of Kamal Studios with a loud screech. The sudden brake was definitely intended, to make people aware of the arrival of the storm that was about to toss and tumble every sane mind present within the walls of the studio. The door opened and out came the debonair man, every inch of him shouting out the confidence and charm that makes him none other than RK. The onlookers at the gate of the studio looked at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. "Good morning, Chhotu," RK greeted the lean boy standing in front with his signature smirk. "Chief, you're back?" exclaimed the boy after a few moments of stupefiedness. "Yes, Chhotu, as promised, I am back," replied RK with a wink and headed inside the studio.

"Madhu, this one is a dream sequence where you come in a white saree, and Abhay sings the song around you. Please get changed and come back in half an hour. The floor will be ready by then," said Sultan, the episode director. Madhu nodded in silence and went towards her make-up room. "Hey Sultan, I hope things are all in place, unlike last time," hollered out Abhay from a distance across the floor. "Yes, they are. You just concentrate on your lines Abhay. I do not want to see you fumble with the lip-syncing during the shot," muttered Sultan and turned away. He was getting really jittery with this new actor because of his tantrums. Sultan had been directing this daily soap for over two years now. His connection with the Timeless Theatricals production house has been a very amicable one. He was in good terms with the producer duo Bittu Sharma and Kuku Bhatia. He loved his job, more precisely working with the team of Ek Ishq Ek Junoon. This was the show where the Indian TV viewers saw for the first time a passionate love story between the protagonists, enacted by RK and Madhu, newbies at the time the show started. There was no kitchen politics, no saas-bahu melodrama, no over-the-top illogical plots, and remarkably the show had been a great success among the mass, irrespective of age or gender. With time, the plot thickened and with the astounding performance of RK-Madhu and their sizzling chemistry, the show became larger than life, and the actors being fanatically followed and admired by the viewers. But because of a tiff between RK and Kuku Bhatia at the 2^nd anniversary party, things took an ugly turn, and after some unnecessary mud-slinging against RK by Kuku in the press and media, things went out of hand. An unforeseen leap in the story was announced, whereby RK's character was killed and then after few weeks of mourning, Madhu's character moved on with her life where she met the new lead, Abhay Kapoor. "Hey Sullu, don't be sad buddy, I am just leaving this show. Not our friendship," said RK on his last day of shoot. "I'll miss you RK. We had so much fun working together," replied Sultan gravely. "We will work together again. This is a small world, this glam world. We will definitely work together again," replied RK and left.

But Kuku's scheme brought little respite to the show. The new lead was nowhere close to RK in charm or acting prowess. He had been with the show now for over 3 months but the show had been seeing plunging TRPs ever since. Madhu was giving her best effort to keep up the class, but even for an incredible actor like her, it was extremely difficult to create the magic on screen with Abhay, as he failed to make any chemistry with her in front of the camera. Abhay's sole intention seemed to be hooking onto Madhu for after work dinner or night outs, which Madhu categorically refused. In spite of being Kuku Bhatia's nephew, Abhay had earned little respect from the whole unit, as they all missed RK and could not accept this show-off as his replacement.

Sultan sat in the director's chair, with his eyes closed, contemplating the next scene. No matter how much he tried, every time RK's face came in his imaginations with the scenes with Madhu. "God, I miss you buddy," murmured Sultan with his eyes still closed. "Are you talking about me?" Sultan opened his eyes in a flash, hearing the familiar voice. "RK?" exclaimed Sultan. "Were you missing me Sullu? See, here I am," replied RK, his eyes twinkling with mischief and lips bent in a crooked smile. "Oh God," exclaimed Sultan again, jumped up from his chair and hugged RK. "I told you, I will work with you very soon. And see, here I am. I never fail to keep my promise," winked RK. "But how did all this happen? I mean, how come nobody told me anything about this before?" asked Sultan. "It was sudden, but I suppose it was always in my mind to bring RK back to the floor," said Bittu as he approached them. "Bittu ji? When did all this happen? Please tell me everything," said Sultan excitedly, and RK laughed seeing his impatience. "For the last one month the show had such rock-bottom TRPs that last week the channel authorities called us back and said they would not let this show to be aired any further. It was bringing huge revenue loss to the channel as well. We were given an ultimatum to make things work within two weeks, else..." "But what about Kuku ji?" asked Sultan. "Kuku ji, as usual left Bittu ji alone in this mess," replied RK with an air of indifference. "He has decided to walk out of this production house. He is going to call for a press conference today where he will launch his new production house," muttered Bittu. "Close your mouth Sultan, else the mosquitoes in this studio will happily build their home sweet home inside," said RK looking at Sultan's shocked expression. "And that is when I decided to call RK and save us from this sinking ship," said Bittu. Sultan looked at RK with gratitude and warmth. "I know, you are extremely thankful, but finding it very difficult to express it in words. So you are most welcome," said RK looking at Sultan with his smug smirk. Sultan smacked his back and said, "Chup, nautanki salaa." "So Sultan, you shoot RK's come back episode today itself. We will show that RK's character had not been killed but severely injured. The body they had found was anyway half burnt, and it belonged to someone else. And it was all done by Abhay's character. Now RK will come back again and seek his revenge," said Bittu, handing him new screenplays. "So you have been working on this new plot already?" asked Sultan. Bittu gave him a smile of assurance and whispered, "The only garbage left in this unit is that Abhay. I guess with RK's entry, he will anyway be side-lined, and then RK will take care of himself. Won't you RK?" "You are making me a bad man Bittu ji, but to tell you the truth, I love being bad." RK mouthed the words with amusement and both Sultan and Bittu knew that it was a harbinger of Abhay's exit from the show.

Madhu was completely unaware of all the happenings on the floor. She came out of her make-up room and saw the floor been dimly lit and filled with the artificial mist for the dream sequence. "Madhu, go to the spot with the white circle on the floor. And start your movements when the music starts. Remember, I will shoot the whole song in a single shot," shouted Sultan from one corner. Madhu stood at the assigned spot and waited for the music. "Lights, Sound, Camera rolling, and ACTION!!" The music started and Madhu started moving around the floor with swift steps. She then stepped on to the stairs created within the setting. As she climbed few steps a hand pulled her from back and she lost her balance and before she would trip over, two strong hands held her firmly and brought her back on the floor with a swift turn. Madhu was sure that they were supposed to do some other moves, but with this improvisation she was a bit startled. Moreover Abhay was wearing a mask on his face, which was definitely not in the script. And there was something very starkly different which before she could spot, she was spun around in swift Salsa steps. "The music is different now, what's happening?" murmured Madhu before she was turned and twisted in some complicated Salsa move. She was an expert dancer, so it was not much of a difficulty to her, but it was more so because the lead from her partner was incredible. And it reminded her of no one but RK. Right then a bright spotlight fell on them and Madhu gasped out, "RK!!" "Shhh," shushed RK in her ears as he took her for another twirling move with full frenzy. Madhu started shaking, as his warm breath touched her face from an inch apart distance, his nimble fingers holding and releasing her, touching her with the faintest warmth that brought back all the sizzling moments they had shared on the floor before.

Such was the magic of RK-Madhu on screen that viewers wished to see them together every moment on and off-screen. Every magazine and page3 would have gossips about their link-ups, but it had least effect on RK and Madhu. They were very good friends on and off the screen. "You are definitely not my type, you headstrong pig,"Madhu would jeer whenever RK made fake proposals in front of the unit after every such hot-gossip, and then they would laugh away. But as the show progressed, more and more close-up scenes made them a little more comfortable with each other than just joking friends. And with that came the uncomfortableness in front of the unit and media increased. They stopped giving joint interviews, as Madhu contemplated that people would see through their denials when asked about their "true" relationship. But it all fell apart in the 2^nd anniversary celebration party. Till date Madhu did not know what had truly happened between RK and Kuku. She saw a drunk RK shouting profanities towards Kuku, who was replying with equal vigour. Madhu had never seen RK in such a state. She knew he was arrogant and straightforward, but never this rude. Within few days things became extremely horrible in the sets. RK would be badmouthed by Kuku in the press every day, reporters would be flocking to the set to get scoops, RK would come to the set drunk and create more scenes. Madhu did not get a chance to talk to RK and in a short time he was out of the show.

"Fantastic shot," shouted Sultan from behind the camera and the whole unit applauded them. Madhu saw Abhay standing at a distance from the floor, sulking away. RK had removed his mask by that time, and flew away kisses to the applauding unit. Before Madhu could speak anything he held her close by her waist and told Sultan, "We will be back after an hour. Get the next scene ready by then," and took Madhu towards the make-up room.

Madhu came out of her haze as they entered the make-up room and RK locked the door behind. "What are you doing here?" gasped Madhu. "Aren't you happy to see me?" asked RK with a raised brow, as he approached her. "You left the show just like that. You did not even answer my calls when I tried to get to you. You left me all alone. And now you are asking me whether I am happy to see you?" asked Madhu as tears welled up in her eyes. "Did you miss me Madhu?" asked RK while pushing Madhu a little against the wall and caging her in between his hands, "Because I missed you, like hell. I could not think of anything but you every moment." He nuzzled her hair around her neck and then started dropping light kisses along the neck up on to her chin. They had been close before, but not this intense, as they had not yet declared about their true feeling before. "What happened at the party? Why did you leave the show?" "That filthy mouth Kuku Bhatia was saying all nasty things about you. I could not take it any more so I just burst out on him," recollected RK with rage. "That's it? And just like that you went away without saying a word?" asked Madhu, tears rolling down her cheek. "That's not it Madhu," gritted RK, "I could not let him ruin your career as he tried to do with me. But see, I am back today, to be forever with you, Madhu. Today I have come back with my head held high, no one can say that I begged to be back in the show. Now that filth is also out of this show. We will again ignite the screen with our passion." Madhu kissed his palms and looked in his eyes. "Won't you greet me on my homecoming, Madhu?" asked RK, as his eyes filled with mischief and passion again. Madhu smiled a little and then blushed, as RK still managed to affect her with his charm every time he asked for a kiss. She propped herself on RK's feet, as he was more than a foot taller than her. Then clasping on the hairs at the back of his neck, she balanced herself at the right height and whispered, "I love you RK." RK froze for a moment, the time he took to register the words and the emotions that accompanied them, then regaining his sense, he took in her lips and murmured in between, "I love you too Madhu, love you like crazy."