Lights, Camera, Drama!

FOUR: Get into character

NOTE: Guys, now that the shooting part will begin, there will be a lot of names that you'll have to remember, so please take note, hehe. 

Otherwise, after each update, you'll be asking who's who 😂.

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Akshara

Abhimanyu steps closer to me and cups my cheeks with both hands "I let you go away once, I will never make that mistake again" he says as he stares into my eyes and I get lost in his.

A tear rolls down my eye, the intensity a little too much to bear and I feel goosebumps rise on his arms as my tear drops to his hand.

"Aaaaand CUT!" Devakar sir says and the lights get turned on, blinding my eyesight for a second.

I immediately look away and blink the tears away as Devakar sir and the crew start clapping.

"This is the chemistry I was looking for!" He smiles as he gives Raman a thumbs up, probably telling him that he casted the right people.

After changing and freshening up, we all gather around the screen to have a look at the sample scene we just shot as a part of the screen test.

Even though Raman had insisted that he had casted the "best possible pair", Devakar sir was a man of procedure and to be honest, I loved this about him!

I take a sip of the tea that is served to me while Abhimanyu sits close by, discussing something with Amishi, who I now know to be his manager. I realised she's the same person who pulled him away on the day of the award function.

Taabish comes to me and hands me a bundle of papers "And here's your script gal" he says excitedly and I shake my head.

I took me two days to finally say yes to this role after having met Abhimanyu that day. And no, I didn't come to this decision easily.

That awkward interaction with him in the lift was a good reminder of why I shouldn't be doing this. And so I took two long days to complete my research. I saw hundreds of interviews of Abhimanyu on YouTube and I made notes of things I observed.

You may call me paranoid for going to such lengths but then again, when you pay a heavy price to get to where you are, being careful is the least you can do for yourself.

And so from the various interviews I saw, I got to know that Abhimanyu was in general, a happy-go-lucky kinda person who mostly stayed cool and relaxed. I also saw interviews where he closely interacted with female colleagues and I noticed how he shared a good camaraderie with all his co-actors and how none of them seemed to be uncomfortable despite his flirtatious smiles and occasional winks.

He's like that, and not just with me. I told myself over and over again as I finally decided to say yes.

"Thank you for making me do this" I tell Taabish and he pouts and gives me a quick salute.

I look at the script in my hand and stare at the title of the movie printed in bold on the first page.

ONE AND A HALF DAYS

When I was briefly told what the story was all about, I was excited to play the character of Kavya, the biggest reason being that she is totally opposite to me. In my debut film, I had played the role of a cunning con girl, which was again a challenge because I was nowhere close to being that clever in real life.

I recall the meeting with Devakar sir yesterday where he spoke so passionately about this project.

"One and a half days is the story of Rishi Ahlawat and Kavya Juneja.