Manan FF ~The Secret Passion

Chapter 3 - The Meet and Greet

"Some people cross your path and change your whole world."

The temperature in the room is a bit high. Is it because of the people sitting there or the sun showing that he is in a great mood or..........may be their tempers are showing to be at it's peak.

Every person is engrossed in their own thoughts. Mr.Verma and Arjun are checking the last minute preparations for the screen test as demanded by Manik!! Mukti is busy in her phone. Dhruv is trying to make a new tune with his guitar. Aliya is still in her volcano mode and can erupt any moment. Manik still didn't arrive owing to his busy schedule. Cabir reached a couple of minutes before. They are all waiting for the leads to show up to start the test and if it did work out then proceed with the other formalities. Arjun is pretty confident that this will turn out positively.

After 15 minutes Manik made an entry with the same attitude. He really hates wasting time, so soon after he entered the premises, he asked for the lady who was supposed to be here half an hour back. They told him that she didn't arrive yet, he was about to lash out on them, when the glass door pushed open and they heard a voice which grabbed their attention.

"Excuse me..!!"

Manik turned to see a beautiful lady wearing a long mid slit Kurti and legging. Her hair curled at the end and her bangles clinking when she put her loose strands of hair behind her ear revealing matching earrings. Her lips coated in the pink lip gloss curled into a small smile gaining his full attention. Her slender neck clad in a thin gold chain. She was simple yet elegant. She was beautiful yet glamorous. She was calm yet confident. She was soft yet splendid. The exact lady they wanted for their next music Video. But still they should indeed go through a screen test to ensure a good chemistry.

"I'm sorry, for being late. I was stuck in an emergency. I hope I haven't interrupted a conversation."

She has a melodies voice!! This is the first thought that crossed his mind. When Anurag (director) called to inform that they found the perfect face to cast opposite him, he was utterly surprised cause he knew for a fact that it's almost impossible for them to find her so fast without any proper auditions conducted, unless they had it planned before they actually informed them and it's definitely not possible since they (fab5) are hard nuts to crack especially Manik. He thought it will at least take two days to conduct a proper audition, that is the reason he gave them a week time to set things right.

"That's alright, please come in."said cabir, to be polite.

"Hello, Arjun."

"Hi Nandini. It's good to see you here." Said Arjun. He was grateful that she got ready to do this even though she wasn't sure if she could handle this properly.

"Nice to meet you, Nandini. I'm Anurag Verma, your director if everything works out well."said Verma.

"Hello Mr. Verma, nice to meet you too."

"He is Manik Malhotra, your co-star and the lead singer of the band."said Arjun, introducing him.

"Hello Mr. Malhotra." Ouch!! It sounded pretty formal and Manik definitely didn't like it a bit.

"They are the rest of the band members. Mukti Vardhan, Cabir Dhawan, Dhruv Vedant and Aliya Saxena."

"Hello guys, it's really a pleasure to meet you."

Cabir replied with a 'hey'. Dhruv acknowledged her greeting with a smile. Mukti just gave a nod and didn't give out any particular expression. Aliya scoffed with a scowl on her face which made Nandini frown at the gesture. She was sure that the girl didn't like her a bit and she would make sure not to cross paths with her until necessary. But she didn't pound on it cause it's not necessary that every person like you or you like them. She was good with it until Aliya don't create unnecessary drama. Manik was lost in her voice and smile to reciprocate her greeting.

Her smile was contagious. Everyone liked her instantly including Mukti but she didn't let it show on her face considering her ego. Well it was pretty obvious that Aliya didn't.

"You guys get familiar with each other. I'll inform you if the shot is ready." Anurag and Arjun left the place immediately.

"Hey, I heard that you are a doctor. What do you specialise in?"said Cabir in his ever curious mood.

"I'm a cardiologist."

"Oh heart specialist....huh!!"said Cabir in a teasing way.

"Haha...... yeah that is it!!"

"I guess we need to leave you guys alone. It's you who are going to work together and you should get comfortable with each other."said Cabir, who thought he saw a glint of expression in manik's face. He can't actually pinpoint what but he was sure he did. He wanted them to genuinely spend a few minutes together to make a things comfortable and less awkward.

Aliya wasn't ready to leave them alone. She tried to protest, but cabir didn't give her any chance to do so. Mukti agreed and moved out immediately as she know that it's important and she wasn't sure if she can make a conversation for long with a stranger. Dhruv felt a bit uncomfortable leaving them alone but he couldn't understand why?? And he didn't want to display his confused emotions to any one not even his friends.

There was a complete silence in the room. It was a bit awkward but someone has to break the ice in order to initiate a convo. They didn't even see eye to eye. Many thoughts were running in their minds like an express train. They spoke together as if they are two radios in sync. (These line are the one they spoke together, don't get confused.)

"Hi...!!"

"Umhh.....are you sure??"

"About what?"

"Working together together of course."

There was a moment of silence that followed by the fits of laughter by the two. Hahahah........

"Hi, I'm Manik."

"Hi, I'm Nandini."

That was a start of may be a new friendship??

_____________________

Convincing Mr. Khurana for casting a new girl other than his daughter was pretty tough. At times it went pretty awful and they thought that it's impossible for them to make him understand the situation. Soha Khurana was a graduate in arts from Fergusson college, Pune. She didn't have any idea about the glamour world. She was neither groomed nor ready for the launch. She agreed to do this immediately cause of the only fact that she is a biggest fan of the rockstar. She would never miss a chance to work with him. It was definitely not a good idea to cast her opposite someone that reputed and popular. It would be a disaster.

They looked after every single detail to shot the first scene though it wasn't even a part of the video they intended to make. They didn't wanted to commit any mistake from their part. Soon Manik and Nandini were informed and ushered to the set. Fab5 were also present to watch the show. A song from one of their old albums were played. They were given freedom to act as they wish. They must have thanked goods for at least ten mins. They both at some point thought that it would be a typical Bollywood romantic screen test where heroine comes running into the arms of the hero and would trip a fall. Then the hero very gracefully would catch hold of her in his strong arms and never let her go. They would have an eye lock for almost fifteen minute until the director is satisfied and with a "CUT". Arrghh....this mushy!!?? Definitely not their type.

The music started with a romantic notch. They moved gracefully complimenting each other. They created an electrifying chemistry with Manik's intense gaze and her crimson blush. The people who were witnessing this were mesmerised. The didn't wanted to stop. The director who always shouted a cut every 2 minutes of the shot was spell bounded and couldn't find his voice. There was no pretension, it was completely natural. For two strangers who met just a half an hour ago was unexpected to perform like this. There a huge round of applause from the audience. The response was ginormous. They knew the next moment that there's a long way to go. Very long......

"From the moment we started talking I know that I wanted you around."