Love will find a way
V S Srinivasan
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Mahima Chaudhary on the sets of Pyar Koi Khel Nahin. Click for bigger pic!
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The vehicle winds down a steep path leading to the sea. The lush green grass runs off into the distance, waving in heady merriment in the cool breeze that adds to the cosy comfort of the place. All par for the course at the shoot of Polygram's Pyar Koi Khel Nahin at the Royal Palm Golf Club, Goregaon, northwest Bombay.
It's odd finding a well-appointed nine-hole golf course in the steel and cement forest that is the city. But there it is, and you feast your eyes when you can; at home, you'd probably have to poke a hole all through up to the terrace to catch a glimpse of the heavens through a maze of television aerials and cable television wires.
Soon, reluctantly, you come upon the site of the shoot. But there is visual solace again, this time provided by that comely Mahima Chaudhary, last glimpsed in Pardes. She is all set for a scene with Apoorva Agnihotri, her co-star from Pardes.
Chaudhary looks very pretty, settled deep within that beautiful chair. And that orange designer outfit does an effective job sheathing the torso and some parts south of the waist; thereafter a slinky pair of long legs take over.
Nice. Very nice.
Chaudhary waits for director Subhash Sehgal to beckon to her. And soon enough she is summoned.
"Action," barks Sehgal, and Chaudhary and Agnihotri start off. "Pehle aap," offers Chevalier Agnihotri. As politely, Chaudhary passes the buck right back. Agnihotri ruefully refuses the opportunity -- the lady must go first. Just about the time Sehgal is ready to burst an assortment of blood vessels, Chaudhary tires of the game and sets off.
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Mahima Chaudhary and Sunny Deol. Click for bigger pic!
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"Mein aap se pyar nahin karti hoon," she tells Agnihotri.
So, the duo are not in love? But wait, this is not a case of romance getting the rejection slip, but a preliminary to a hilarious caper, with Agnihotri playing the fall guy.
"Both these people have come to say 'No' to each other. But they will fall in love after this scene," the director tells you.
But other than this pertinent detail, the crew is mum about the details. As reluctant to discuss the story is Chaudhary when you move in to grill the gal. But switch to her role and she's as garrulous as a football commentator on radio on a good day.
With a smile that launched at least a thousand frames, Mahima tells you all about it.
"It is a very sweet role. In this scene, my attire is totally Western as you might have observed (we did! we did!). This is because I want Apoorva to reject me. I play an Indian girl otherwise."
That does sound like a variation of what she played in Pardes?
"No, no, not at all. Here I am more of a city-based girl -- I have a variety of emotions. I don't believe in repeating a role like Pardes again because, I, as an actress, want to give vent to my creative instincts..."
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Apoorva Agnihotri. Click for bigger pic!
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That, she tells you is why she refused to star in Ramgopal Varma's Satya after the script was changed.
"Varma had spoken to Subhashji (mentor Ghai, not Sehgal). At that time the script was different. But after that the script was changed and we decided not to do the role."
Ghai is known to be very protective about his discoveries for some distance down their careers. Chaudhary clearly has to complete this initiation phase.
Meanwhile, it starts drizzling. Sehgal wants to can a couple of shots more before things get out of hand. Chaudhary mugs her lines quickly, first in English and following up with a few rehearsals in Hindi. A result, it appears, of an education at Loreto, Darjeeling. Agnihotri glances at the script with the ease identifiable with veterans; the lad seems mighty confident for his age.
A small goof-up and the director seeks another rehearsal. He finally nods his approval.
"Silence, rolling!" Sehgal mutters and the heroine stutters. "Sorry, sir!" she apologises. This is the first day Chaudhary is shooting after Pardes and she is still a little rusty.
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A still from Pardes. Click for bigger pic!
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The second time round the petite lass manages to spurn the boy smartly enough. And, given the cue, Agnihotri goes through his paces with considerable ease.
Just as the unit breaks for lunch, it begins pouring, putting paid to any more shooting.
Producer V J Lazarus, Polygram's CEO, explains the concept behind the enterprise.
"It is a proper commercial film. But then it is a very clean one. There are no ingredients that will hurt viewers's sentiments," says the music industry veteran.
Why did Polygram hire a new director again, considering its second film, Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaate is being directed by veteran Hrishikesh Mukherjee? Polygram's first celluloid venture was debutant Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi.
"The subject is pretty good and though Seghal has never been to the sets before, he had in mind quite clearly what he wanted to do. He is a very experienced editor and can handle things easily," says Lazarus.
Silence descends when Sunny Deol -- Subhash Sehgal calls him the ''backbone of the film'' -- arrives. As the hanger-ons run forward to catch a glimpse of the hero, we corner Agnihotri.
Spruced up in a white suit, Apoorva thinks his role "is totally different from what I did in Pardes. It is a nice subject and the treatment definitely makes all the difference. I play the romantic lead opposite Mahima. I have quite a bit of comedy too. What's more, I don't try and rape the heroine as I did in Pardes."
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Mahima Chaudhary and Apoorva Agnihotri. Click for bigger pic!
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Sunny -- currently Bollywood's highest paid actor -- has the entire unit trailing behind him. He sits down for lunch and even those who've already feasted decides to lunch again, every champ of his jaw being matched by the drop of one in the gawking company. Sunny makes some more small talk and exits.
More than half the Rs 60,000 spent for a day on the golf club has been washed away by the rain. But Lazarus can still manage a smile.
"We will try and shoot somewhere inside," he said and disappears to brainstorm with his director.
As we trudged away, we were left with a nagging feeling. What was so different about this film? Why were they so furtive about the storyline, only claiming it was "a nice and different film?"
In Bollywood secrecy is often used as a ploy to heighten the mystery about a run-of-the-mill caper. Sometimes, it is just to stop someone from stealing the script.
It doesn't really matter. It wouldn't be the first time a heroine is saying "Mein aap se pyar nahin karti hoon," would it?
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