when i met John Abraham....

I was told to come down to the sets at around 7.30. I was tensed and moreover very scared. I have never faced a camera with such huge celebrities ever in my life. I wore my black shirt with my black denim. I was wired with micro phone as I went downstairs. The boy who did the miking arrangement told me to remain calm. The beard gentle man who had met me at CAMERA VISION that day was sitting very casually outside the set. He greeted me and told me what I am actually expected to do over there.

I entered the set and another gentleman came and told me the same things once again. As soon as I entered the set, I saw Karan Johar and John Abraham in his exquisite black suite were sitting in front of me!!! I was all frozen for a while when I saw 7-8 cameras with the audience and these two celeb’s. The beautiful lady Shagun came to me (and that’s when I realized that she was the assistant director) putting her arms around my shoulders she smiled and asked,

“What’s the matter sweet heart? You seem to be quite nervous!!!”

I said “yes yaar… obviously”

“Don’t worry dude, lemme introduce our director to you” she said.

A gentleman in his 50’s came to me and asked “hey ya… are you scared?”

“Yes sir… I am indeed” I said in a low voice.

“Don’t worry yaar… these guys are really cool people to work with” he pointed towards JOHNY.

“And we can always cut and re-shoot even if you make a mistake” he assured.

“Come with me I will introduce you to them”

As soon as I reached Karan Johar, director said

“Akshay, this is Karan and that is John…”

I didn’t expect him to introduce me to them in such a way. I was like OH c’mon man!!! Who doesn’t know these people? To my surprise, Mr. Johar stood up and greeted me with his humbleness. He said

 “Hello Akshay!! How you doin?”

I was so pleased by his humbleness and politeness that I really felt happy and special. I was honored!!! I shook hands with him and said

“I am doing great sir. Thank you so much”

Then we moved on to none other than JOHN ABRAHAM. I was quite easy by this time. I was the one to speak here. I said

“Hi JOHNETTA” he smiled, shook hands and said

“Hey bro… listen… I donno even a bit of Malayalam… so you’ll have to manage!!! Okay?”

I said “Okay Johny… no worries”

Then the shoot began. I was told that they will cut and re-shoot in case if I make a mistake. As soon as it was about figures, like (10, 16,250) I started fumbling. Karan helped me to keep it calm and translated the amount for me in English. We had small talks in between and it was all fun. I obviously was very tensed and nervous. They completed the shoot in a single stretch without much cuts and it was all done.

I was lucky enough to have few words in person with both Johny and Karan. I couldn’t manage to take any autographs and photographs as the audience and the staff dropped down to the stage to hug, shake hands and take autographs and photos with the hunk. I and shell, somehow managed to click a snap and have some words with Johny.

As mentioned before, I first agreed on doing this to satisfy my relation with Merlin, now I feel that it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I truly had a great time. All thanks to Merlin.

my experience at the YASH RAJ FILMS

I, along with Sheldon arrived at THE YASH RAJ studios, Andheri at 2.20. I was told to reach here at 2.30 sharp. There were many street food stalls on that street and Sheldon was very hungry as usual. I told him, we will have something later, now first we need to meet Sweedyl. He looked at me sarcastically, and I also was not sure if we may get something to eat or not. He was also teasing me considering the possibilities of not letting us go in…

***Here started one of the most beautiful days of my life!!!***

As expected, both of us were stopped at the entrance itself by the security. Sheldon started laughing at me and I too was laughing inside ( koi izzat hi nahi hai?). Sweedyl had told me to call her in case if the security doesn’t allow us go in. I called Sweedyl and she told me that she has already sent a person to the gate. As soon as I kept the phone, a man fully loaded with gadgets and head phones with walky-talky came running towards us and asked

“Akshayji aap hi hain?”

I turned towards Sheldon to give him a victorious smile…

“Yes, main hi hun” I said.

He told something to the security and we got in to the studio. The campus of the studio was very beautiful with spacious gardens and lush green plantations. Yashraj must have spent in millions to build something of this kind at the centre of the suburb!!!

As soon as we entered I realized, everyone from a spot boy to coordinators knew about me coming and they all referred to me as “the translator” and that was really nice to hear. They took us to their office room and asked me to wait there. I have never met Sweedyl before. And all I knew was she was Merlin’s friend. She came in and greeted both of us. There was a very pretty young girl named as Bhoomika who was our coordinator, assigned to look after me. She was very beautiful and smart by nature. Both of them, along with some other coordinators told me what to do and what not to do, what do they expect to happen on the sets etc… initially I was amused and confused though, later I got familiar with their profession and pattern of working.

Bhoomika took us to the 4th floor where dressing rooms were there, and in one of those rooms stayed Sathi, the lady from Kerala for whom I am the translator. They wanted me to spend some quality time with her and her family, know her more so that she could feel comfortable while she is in front of the camera.

*** My encounter with PRIYANKA CHOPRA!!!!***

I was in YASHRAJ. The corridor was well decorated with paintings and posters of their films with  beautiful lighting  and it moreover appeared like lobby of some 5star hotel. To both our sides were many dressing rooms and we were walking behind the beautiful lady Bhoomika. Suddenly a door next to me on my left hand side opened and none other than PRIYANKA CHOPRA, (wearing a micro-mini stuff in olive green) came out of the door!!!! I was all frozen and it took me a while to realize that the lady standing very next to me (15 inches from me!!!!) was real and was in flesh and blood. What else does a boy of my age expect? It was like a dream come true. (Like in old fairy tales, the door of a castle opens and the queen comes out!!!) I was frozen and was all expressionless. She was starring at me, trying hard to recollect and recognize my face or wondering what was a boy like me doing next to her dressing room!!! It all happened in seconds and by the time I came down to earth it was too late for me to say “hi”…

I missed on this golden chance to have a word, have some beautiful moments with one of the MOST gorgeous women in the world. Sheldon who was behind me got few more seconds and he managed to say a simple “hi” to which she responded with her killer smile.

Both of us went ahead and whispered together in our highest volume 

“OH!!!!!  man……THAT WAS PRIYANKA CHOPRA!!!!”

“Akshay, where are you going? Here is your room” shouted Bhoomika from behind. I turned around to find PRIYANKA still looking at us. She was there for some promotional shoot for her then upcoming movie “pyaar impossible” and was completely in that avatar. She indeed is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.

I somehow managed to get in to our room and I will regret of not having spoken to PRIYANKA throughout my life....

How I got into lift karade…

My phone started vibrating at the college corridor… it was on silent mode as we are not permitted to use cellular phones at our college premises. I was surprised to see Merlin’s name flashing on the mobile screen as, we hardly call each other apart from our regular forwarded text messages. I ran towards the washroom to attend her call as, I was pretty sure that she wouldn't call me without any valid reason.

“Hello… Akshay, bol mat sirf sun, tu ek TV show mein kaam karega kya?” asked her.
I didn’t expect that… and didn’t know how to react, I said
“TV show? But, when? Where? And what do I need to do? Please elaborate!”

She told me about an upcoming TV show called “lift karade” and told me that I need to be a translator for a lady coming all the way from Kerala. She emphasized that there is JOHN ABRAHAM and KARAN JOHAR on the show, and she herself can’t do that, as she isn’t that fluent in Malayalam. Honestly, at that moment, it didn’t make much of any difference to me. I was more concerned about our on going activities inside the college. I tried to deny the offer politely. She insisted and told me I am losing on a very big opportunity to come on national television. I asked her to call me in a while and I said I need some time to think about the same.

I went on to my friends and told them about this. They all suddenly started screaming and all of them were really happy. I was still not sure about what to do. They all insisted that I should go ahead with this golden opportunity. I was in a dilemma and then I decided to give it a chance.

Merlin called me after 15mins and I told her that I am ready to do that. She asked me to go and meet the production in charge at the production house and provided me with the address and rest of the details. She told me to wear something nice and I, in between the rehearsals was in utter shabby state!!! I decided to get a new shirt and then went to the production house.

Sometimes, I do things just to satisfy the need for that relation. Merlin is a sweet friend and I was glad that she called me for this. I had to respect her for that and hence, I decided to go for it. From within I was least interested. I was told to meet some lady by the name Shagun. I went to the production house corp. office at Andheri. I opened the door and saw many people in a row, sitting and working on their computers. It appeared more or less like a cyber café.

As soon as I opened the door, all of them turned towards me and one b’ful lady, who was standing and supervising others looked at me and said

“Yes????”

I said “Shagun?” and she said “yes, that’s me.”

“I am with sweedyl’s reference, for some TV show” I said.

“Oh! Okay!!! So that’s you!!! The Translator?” she exclaimed.

I said “ yes, that’s me”

There was a guy sitting and watching all this happen. He was dressed in his formals and was thin, fair and beard. Later I got to know that he was the production head. He took me to a room where many people were working on editing parts of many other shows. He showed me some parts of the introduction of the lady "Sathi"  (the one for whom i am a translator) and asked me to translate what she was saying. I did that and he was happy abt it. He asked me few questions like how do u knw malayalam and all that stuff, he asked me to come down to the sets on 21st of dec. i said OKAY and it was all sorted.





 

My encounter with Mr. Atole!!!

“Appu, why don’t you lodge a complaint at the police helpline?. Its already 11.15”

 My mother asked me, covering her ears with both of her hands, unable to bear the annoying noise of the loud speakers playing hard rock marathi folk numbers and peppy hindi songs at their highest volume. It was a Thursday, and not a weekend and we all had to get up early next day. Dad had already gone to bed and was struggling hard to sleep. There was some occasion going on at the society behind my complex and it all started 6hrs back at around 5pm. This at times get on to your nerves leaving you with the feeling of frustration and helplessness.

It feels bad to see people behave so irresponsibly, without any basic civic sense and social etiquette. Especially when people celebrate any festival or occasion, without even thinking about the people who are affected by their activities.

“Good evening… mee hawaldar Atole boltoy…how can I help u?”

I was shocked at the warm greetings by Mr. Atole. For a while, I felt like speaking to a private telecom customer care and not a police helpline ! I always had this stereotype negative impression about the police officers and police helpline. I also have some very unbelievable and atrocious experiences with the police department. Also, they are portrayed in a funny and negative manner in most of the movies.

“Good evening sir, I am Akshay Varma. From Lokvatika.”

 “Bolo sir, kya baat hai?”

“Sir, yahan pe koi bohot zor se loud speaker play kar raha hai. Aap zara akar kuch dekhenge” I asked.

“Acha? Koi baat nahi main abhie gaadi bhej deta hun! Lokvatika na?”

“No-no!” I exclaimed. “its some where behind our complex” I specified.

“ koi baat nahi sir, hum abhie gaadi bhejdenge. aap befikar hokar rahiye.” he assured.

After the call I felt really good for the kind of response and treatment I received from the police helpline.

Time went ahead. It was almost 11.45. Half an hour since I spoke to the gentleman officer. I was so pleased by his gesture and assurance that I waited for 5 more minutes wondering if I should try calling the number once again.

I dialed 100 and Mr.Atole was on air once again.

“Good evening… mee hawaldar Atole …how can I help u?”

“Sir, this is Akshay again. Aap loud speakers band karvane wale they… abhi bhi who chal raha hain!!!” I said, adding some more anguish to my voice.

“acha? Abhi tak band nahi hua na? kidhar bole they aap? Lokvatika?” asked Mr. Atole  wondering in 'how can that happen' tone.

“ no sir, I told you its some where behind lokvatika and you can hear the noise far and loud...”  I was all exhausted by the time!

“ acha? Koi baat nahi. Hum abhi aate hain. Aap tab tak ek kaam kyun nahi karte?”

“kya?” I asked out of curiosity... And what i got was the most ridiculous reply that any police officer would have ever given...!!!

“ aap jayiye unke paas aur kahiye ki jald se jald loud speakers band karo nahi to hum court mein case karenge”  advised Atole. (WTF!!!!). Thank god he didn't ask me to pray rather!!!

“okay thank you so very much for your help sir!!! I never knew if I will have to go to a court for stopping public nuisance!!! What are you people there for then? and what the hell is this helpline number for”

 I was at my highest tolerance level.

That moment i spoke even without thinking if the person listening to me was a police officer! A bunch of abusive words in all the languages I know was about to jump out of my mouth. I, some how managed to eat those beautiful words and said,

“thank you once again Mr.Atole. I am glad that you people are there 24/7 to help us!!! I am really pleased by your gesture and surprised by your art of dealing with the problems” I said sarcastically without any fear.

“Hello… hello” said he, and Mr.Atole had released the call by the time i realized i was speaking to myself!!!
I never knew if the receiver can disconnect the call. But, from this incident I got to knw that,this facility is exclusively provided to POLICE HELPLINE… and i had no other option but, to wait for the mercy of those people ... they were kind to me after 1am!