Sairat: Muskurahatein

Chapter - 2

Sai's at her favourite coffee haunt, loading up free refills. She looks like she hasn't slept all night... Because she hasn't. Things are not looking great. She spends the night trudging from one 24 hour coffeeshop to another, now she's posted up, searching rooms from Craigslist. So far, nothing. Her mind travels to Virat, and their moment in his hallway. But she shakes images of Virat out of her mind, reminding herself of the ultimate objective. She's been in here for hours, and so far it seems like she's in trouble. Growing up like a carefree kid in Gadchiroli, gave her a sense of peace. Some people think "Gadchiroli" Is a small village, with stupid criminals,good for nothing... But not where she grew up. Things were good. Very comfortable. Her first week in the reflection studios had been a dream come true. She nailed her first audition : A national television commercial for Anmol dairy products. (That's a made up name) . They'd been going for a youthful angle, making her do a heavy workout and then returning to her dorm to have scoops of Anmol ice cream stored in her refrigerator. But the ad got faded fast. They'd pulled th ad after a short run, leaving her without a royalty check. And now, she isn't the only desperate, aspiring actress in Mumbai. Droves of girls show up to read the same parts as her. It's like she's getting lost in the sea of doppelgangers. At this very moment, there are hundreds,nah thousands, of aspiring actresses being dumped all over the country. She's continuously taking in refilled caffeine as buying a new one is out of her range... She'll stay up all day if she need to . But without a place to live, her dreams of being an actress in Mumbai will become a distant memory. She refreshes the page, and a new posting comes up. '1 bedroom out of 3 bedroom apartment for girls. Two thousand per month only. Contact me by meeting '. She sees the listing and notices, she's just 25 minutes away from the place. She stands up and packs up her laptop, noticing another girl doing the same. They're eyes meet. And there's no denying it... She bolts for the exit, but her rival isn't held off for long, she gives it a chase too.

...

Sai races out the door! She gains a short lead in front of the girl, leaping over a poodle, zigzagging left and right. Her rival pulls alongside her, out of breath.

Rival girl: Woh bohot door hai! A thousand people must've seen the ad. Hum nahi pohochenge.

Sai(running): Tum apna socho. Nothing personal, but...

One thing about Mumbai is dog eats dog, she sees her rival falling into a trash can. She goes flying, taking the trash can with her. They both land with the crash on the sidewalk. Sai does have the decency to look back and make sure she's not mortally wounded . She's not. Just PISSED.

Rival girl(Angrily) : Aah, pagal!

Sai doesn't mind the epithet. And she has no time to respond, anyway. It's still 14 minutes away... She sprints through pedestrian traffic, like a star-athlete. 12 minutes left! She vaults another dog, shimmies between two construction workers, ignoring a catcall, and... Stops. At the intersection, vehicle and pedestrian traffic is shut down.

...

She sees cameras, white spotlight. A movie is being shot and it's all blocked her way. The familiar scene of production assistants talking into earpieces comforts her. Not today! When no one's watching, she slips into the group . The director, sitting atop a moving crane yells...

His PA: Action!

The extras scream and run around the sidewalk. Like the pro actor she is, she lets out a loud scream, grabs her hair and runs along with the others. But when they reach the end, others stop but she keeps running and bolts towards the address. As she turns a corner she sees her nemesis looking with her hands in defeat.

...

The apartment is just up ahead. Three college-age are reaching up the stoop just as she does.

Sai(thinking) : Ye teeno museebat kadi kar sakte hai. I should use my acting skills.
(With authority to girls) : FBI agent! Side ho jao.
(Well, she was an fbi agent 😌😉)