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Audition

Posted on April 13, 2007
Filed Under The Stories |

It was a sunny afternoon in the movie mecca like all the sunny afternoons that had come before it and the ones that would follow. The three men seated at the corner table in the suburban hotel were unremarkable until you got a closer look. Two of them were ugly enough to be noticed for their bad skin and grungy attire. Even the uninitiated would have been tempted to wonder what they were doing in that superficially classy setting. The third looked like he was from a different economic class. His clothes were trendier and he could have passed for handsome in some circles. He was not a star, not a recognisable one anyway. The choice he had made that was certain to draw attention towards him was the fact that he was wearing sunglasses, indoors.

Very little conversation punctuated their silences. They were more likely to sip from their iced teas, check their cellphones for messages or rearrange their hair than they were to talk to each other.

And then she walked up to the table.

Slightly unsure and bearing a large folder that she held up against her chest as a sort of shield. She scanned the two sets of eyes and one pair of sunglasses and said tentatively, “Mr. Shirish?”

Sunglasses nodded. “Hi, and you are?”

“Neha.”

“Come sit Neha. Is that your portfolio?”

She nodded and handed it over and suddenly it become very clear why Shirish was wearing sunglasses. Both his companions’ eyes zeroed in on the girl’s chest. It was not a difficult thing to understand because she was very well endowed. The two of them exchanged glances while Shirish made an elaborate show of leafing through the photographs. Neha could see the pictures reflected in the lenses of his sunglasses and she offered a comment or two about the pictures she was proud of.

“I took this one at Bobby G’s studio. He gave me a really nice look. And that one was shot by a foreign photographer, from Israel I think he was, Mr. Karl.”

“He charged you for the pictures?”

Neha has the good grace to pause, blush and then collect her thoughts, “No…see I met him in Goa and…like we became friends. So he just said ‘your skin is so beautiful I want to take your picture…’ That’s all.”

“This is your bikini?”

“Yes.”

“Quite bold.”

“That’s what the market wants, right…?”

Shirish put the photographs away, after making a show of putting them back in order and returned them to the girl who placed the portfolio on her lap. His associates hadn’t stopped ogling her ever since she sat down and he noticed that she seemed quite comfortable with the attention, “So any questions about the project?”

“Ya, actually, like, I don’t really know what the role is like. So can you give me some idea…?”

“It’s a bold role, a hip role, a young role. It’s a medium budget film but it will have lots of hoardings and print ads support. There are three girls but one of them is like the main girl. There are three heroes also…”

“Who have you taken?”

“The casting is still on. My people are everywhere. Like today I am here, tomorrow I will be in Marriott…it’s going on, we are meeting people.”

“Okay…”

“Any other questions?”

“No.”

“So you are comfortable with showing little skin and all…?”

“Ya, ya! That’s not a problem. It is the market’s demand only so I don’t have a problem. Is there a beach sequence or something?”

“No actually there is a bedroom sequence…see the main girl is quite bold…”

“Oh.”

“Is that a problem for you?”

“No, no, not at all. Look at Mallika Sherawat. That is how she became such a big star.”

Shrish sat back, a small smile teasing his lips. He looked over at his companions but it was difficult to understand what the exchanged looks meant. He nodded, “Okay Neha, thank you. Actually we need to call the short listed girls for another video test…so we will let you know.”

“Okay thank you.”

She stood and shook his hand, affording him an eyeful down her tank top as she did. He slid his sunglasses down his nose slightly and spoke without taking his eyes off her cleavage, “One more question Neha. Are you willing to compromise?”

She didn’t extract her hand from his. With an appropriately seductive smile she said, “If you’re promising me the role I can make some adjustment.”

“And what about my friends?”

“At the same time?”

“Of course not Neha! We are not animals here. One at a time.”

She straightened up with a frown which cleared very quickly, “I need a full narration of the role and a contract. After that we can make arrangements.”

Shirish nodded at one of his mates, “We have your number. We will call you.”

As she walked away, she made it a point to exaggerate the swaying of her hips for their benefit. All three men continued to strip her with their eyes until it was time to see the next aspirant.

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