Rooh Ki Dastak (continuing my old FF)

Shalini entered the studio, fiddling with her cell phone, trying to call her friend. By the time she got Karan on the phone, she found herself standing at the entrance for the sets of Kasturi. They spotted each other at the entrance.
"Ah, you're finally here. Glad you listened to me and wore shalwar kameez today, because the character you're here to try out for is Kasturi, a middle class girl and the lead for this new show."
"Uh.. okay.. Karan, I don't know if I can do this," Sha stammered nervously.
"Look, just relax, and make sure your inner confidence comes through. You've been on stage before, you're a great actress… and this isn't even that bad, it's just cameras, you can do it."
Saying this, Karan handed her a small audition packet that contained a few lines she'd have to perform in front of the director.

Sha took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare herself for this. She needed this job, she told herself.

Jatin arrived at Balaji and found the entire place buzzing with activity. He caught a couple of glimpses of some known TV actors. He had to ask a couple of people for directions, but he finally approached the sets of Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. He immediately spotted Sakshi Tanwar's double on the sets and smiled to himself. A big part of him still could not believe he was here.

When he lined up for the actual audition, he got a bit nervous as he noted that several other actors were there to try out for the role of Vikramaditya Mehra. He stood and impatiently awaited his turn.

"Yes, go!" someone barked at her. Sha stepped towards the middle of the stage, and mentally rehearsed the lines she was about to say…they were so stupid, so annoying. She brushed aside these thoughts. She walked towards the actor who had already been chosen to play Robbie Sabharwal, the main male lead of the show.

"Sir, aap is tarah mere saath nahin kar sakte hain" she said. The second she said it, she knew she had said it too loud. And why the hell did she have to call him 'sir,' she muttered to herself.
"Robbie" turned towards her and pulled her face towards his.
"Main Robbie Sabharwal hoon, Kasturi Chawla, main kuch bhi kar sakta hoon!"

She wanted to slap this guy. This stupid, over-spoiled, ego-inflated character, and she had to dance around him calling him "sir." The irritation on Maithili's face flashed a little too visibly. She felt the director's eyes on her. She sighed and turned around.

"Am I supposed to not talk back to this character at all? And why do I have to call him sir?"
"Okay, I don't have time for this," barked the director. "Next!"
She sighed. Karan looked at her angrily from across the room. She had disappointed her friend. She grabbed her bag and headed straight for the exit.

The clock ticked ever so patiently. It was almost mocking him. Jatin was getting tired of all the waiting. He felt some of his excitement seep out of him. So far, everyone who auditioned had been rejected except for one guy who stuck around. He guessed that they would exhaust the line before deciding on an actor. He left the line temporarily to grab a pav bhaji, since it was nearing lunch time.

When he walked outside, he noticed a heated argument between a girl and a guy. The girl's eyes looked like they were on fire. Even as she argued, she maintained a confident and graceful posture, with her right leg stretched towards the side. If it wasn't for the lack of cameras around them, he would've guessed they were acting for a scene. Maybe they were rehearsing. Mildly curious by now, Jatin slowly inched towards them. Before long, he could hear fragments of their conversation.

"Karan, I am really sorry but I can't do this. I can't try to convince any audience that I can be this kind of a character. It's almost like she has no soul, I don't understand her motivation, and I don't understand how any character with self-respect could deal with that kind of abuse from that Robbie character…whom I have to call sir. I mean, what the hell…--"
"Sha, you needed a job. You could've at least tried and stayed till the end of the audition."

Jatin began to understand what was going on and a slow smile crept towards the side of his mouth. It was more like a smirk. He shook his head and rolled his eyes with the smirk still featuring upon his face. "What an arrogant woman," he muttered to himself. "Thinks she's too good for the role she's playing…"

"Excuse me?" Sha shot at the stranger. She had heard him.
"Uh… I was just.." Jatin tried to exit the situation. He had a line to get back to, after all.
"I heard that! I heard what you were saying, how dare you judge me, and how dare you eavesdrop on our conversation?!" she was screaming at this point, she realized with a mild alarm.
"Look, I have a line to get back to, I am actually here to audition unlike you, so I'll be on my way. Good luck getting ahead with that attitude," he said as he slipped away.
"Well, good luck auditioning with an unimaginative script! But I doubt you'll have much trouble given how unimaginative you seem yourself!" Shouting this, Sha began to walk away. But it was too late. She had enraged him.

"I suppose it's okay when you're the one judging others," he shot as he turned her around. They were looking into each other's eyes with contempt as they realized that a small crowd had gathered around them. Sha's arm was tightly clasped in Jatin's hand. Their eyes fell to the ground, signalling their embarrassment at having inadvertently caused a scene.

Suddenly, a hush fell upon the sets. Ekta Kapoor was making her way towards them. When Sha and Jatin realized this, they froze. Karan gave Sha an angry look, "now look what you've done! You're going to get us kicked out of here, and probably that poor guy too!"

"Ma'am, I'm really sorry about all this," Jatin began, stammering to convey his apologies for the disruption. He started to tell her that he'd really like to get back to his auditions.

Ekta simply nodded her head, casting a glance towards Sha and Jatin, and then at Karan, who nodded a hello to her.

Ekta took a look at Sha, dressed in a Nehru-collared, cold blue shalwar kameez, with a jhola apparently filled with a few books hanging on her shoulder. She dripped attitude, with sharp and expressive eyes slightly curved upward and her lips acting as a mirror to her thoughts – which, at the moment, happened to be sheer annoyance at Jatin. Ekta's attention switched to Jatin. A faint trace of a smirk still lingered upon his face, and he leaned against the wall with an ease and grandeur despite the commotion he had caused. She took another moment to absorb what she was seeing.

Standing next to each other, Jatin and Sha looked like night and day – total opposites, but those few inches of space between them carried so much tension, so much…chemistry. She quickly recalled the way Jatin had held Sha's arm just a few minutes ago. A confident smile appeared on Ekta's lips. Sure of each step, she quietly walked towards the director of Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki.

"Cast these two for the roles you were telling me about… Adi and Maithili, right? Yes, they'll be perfect for that." She then walked back to where Jatin, Sha, and Karan were standing.

"I think it's time you two went back to auditions… and keep up that chemistry, it'll pull in TRPs." Saying this, she winked at Jatin and Sha and walked back towards her office.

Before Jatin and Shalini could absorb what had happened, someone from the unit dropped some lines for Sha and told them the auditions will be in half an hour. Jatin and Sha looked up at each other. Disbelief, contempt, and a mildly pleasant surprise combined together in their facial expressions. Not knowing whether to frown or smile at each other, they retreated to a corner each and began to rehearse their lines.

Originally posted by: desi chic

Jaan-e-mann, when do the new updates come?! Aankhen taras gayee...😳
I recently re-read the other parts and realized how much I miss your writing!

Cheers,
dc