Sapno Ka Shaher

62. Contribution

27th March, 1998

The traffic on the Mumbai roads started getting denser as the office hours came to closing. Though the gentle breeze relieved people from the afternoon heat.

The reception area of the AK Films office was filled with flowers and bouquets. There were congratulatory greeting cards, notes and letters on the reception desk, while the receptionist kept on attending phone calls after every 15 minutes.

Aruna Irani parked her car and entered the office wearing a georgette sky blue saree. Her one side of hair tucked with clip, flaunting a red rose in it, while the rest left open. The flowers and bouquets pleased her again, bringing a bright smile on her lips. Before she maneuvered herself to her cabin on the first floor, she was informed by the receptionist that the newspaper and magazine journalists they had invited were waiting for her bytes. She greeted them with a smile and grabbed a simple chair to sit.

The discussion room in the corner of the passage didn't reflect the cheerful atmosphere of the rest of the office though.

The weekly writers' meeting had turned serious and silent as everyone of them was immersed in thinking.

"Ma'am, hum Kritika aur Kabir ke beech misunderstanding dikha sakte hai...." Yamini, a junior writer at AK Films suggested. "Aur phir Kabir ka accident dikhakar unn dono ke beech ki doori mita denge... 2-3 hafte achchhe se chal sakta hai yeh track..."

Naina swayed side to side on her rolling chair, tapping her pen on the table and thinking about the suggestion. For the long rectangular table with ten chairs, they were a team of five discussing the upcoming track of their show 'Tum Dena Sath Mera' — her leading the meeting from the head of the table.

"Nahi!!" she said, now matching her eyes with Yamini. "Agar misunderstanding hai toh woh apas mein baat karne se hi sulajhni chahiye... apne pati ya patni ko kho jane se darr se nahi... usse galat fehmi par sirf parda dala jaata hai..."

Yamini pursed her lips and only nodded, making a note of something in her notepad.

"Naina ji," Mr. Vinay called for her attention, "abhi Kritika Kabir ki shadi toh ho hi rahi hai... kyun na Kabir ki Maa mein aur Kritika mein thodi anban dikhayi jaaye? Saas-bahu ke beech yeh toh hote hi rehta hai..."

"Ummm... nahi!!" Naina scrunched her nose, as if dissing the idea completely.

"Lekin Naina, Vinay ji ka point galat nahi hai..." Sameer, who was quiet till now, spoke. "Saas bahu ka rishta hota hi aisa hai..."

"Haan lekin ab tak toh hamne dono ke beech sab thik hi dikhaya hai na? Toh ab kyun anban dikhani hai?" Naina countered, turning to Sameer who was sitting in her adjacent chair.

"Lekin hamein show mein thode twists and turns bhi toh dikhane padenege na? Audience ka interest bhi toh bana rehna chahiye..."

"Mai maanti hun show mein twists laane padenge... Wahi discuss karne toh baithe hai na hum? Lekin mujhe samajh nahi aa raha agar unn dono ke beech ab tak sab thik tha, toh usse bigadna kyun hai?"

"Rishtey badalte hai Naina... situations badalti hai... ab tak shadi hui nahi thi, lekin ab ho jayegi... Aur agar hum yeh dikhayenge toh hamara show dekhne wali kitni mahilayein usse relate kar payegi... unhe Kritika ki kahani apni kahani lagegi..."

"Agar darshakon ko apni kahani mehsoos karani hai toh hum kuchh aur bhi toh dikha sakte hai na?"

Sameer shut his eyes, heaving a deep sigh. He didn't understand why Naina was so reluctant with this idea.