In the air with Anurag and Manoj

Indigo Flight 6E 185, Lucknow-Delhi-Mumbai It seems bizarre to visit a new city for the first time for a mere five hours, and spend six hours reaching it. This is the first city promotion tour of my life. i am unslept, caffeinated and excited and so is the man on the aisle seat ( Anurag Kashyap). The middle seat is occupied by a man whose reel life persona in Gangs Of Wasseypur now looks like a great deal of work, considering he calls himself a 'sissy flyer'.  Flight mein Sardar Khan asardar nahi hote! Manoj Bajpayee makes for interesting,nervous and jovial company.   (We are flying non-business, and we dont mind as we do often fly coach happily, as this gets us to Mumbai at a decent hour and we need to fly to Nagpur tomorrow) There is a proverb and a popular Hindi film song that declares - "jungal mien mor naacha kisne dekha? "  With the maddening distractions available on TV in the form of trailers,cricket or the daily soap, an alert and intelligent promo campaign is indispensable. We feel the need for it, and so Mr Kashyap is working with all his might despite a debilitating throat and ear infection. I am not sure he minds that his phone will remain off in air. All day I have heard him answer the same questions in telephonic interviews or talk to his E.P about random people threatening to sue the film. Fatigue wins. He falls asleep as soon as he sits. the captain announces that there might be turbulence and our sweet sissy Sardar khan feels his eyelids grow heavier!  We're doing city tours i.e. visiting select cities and meeting the media and the aam aadmi. Inherent in this kind of strategy is the assumption that people to people contact will help spread the word about our epic film. The assumption is right.  :-)  After a press conference in a plush restaurant in a mall and a ritual visit to the Dainak Jagran office, we headed to the airport.  All through the day people thronged the venues, asking questions, repeating Manoj's famous dialogues. "Karara  jawab milega"' a young man yelled arbitrarily on spotting him.    Flights irritate him. "it's so long , I feel like we're headed back from London"' says Manoj. The day is ending, we shall reunite tomorrow for another city and another mini adventure. A sea of curious, enthusiastic strangers who will soon seem familiar await us in the morrow.  Mumbai shines beneath. Anurag plays scrabble.Manoj looks out of the window trying to spot his home in Lokhandwala. "Ma'am kindly switch off electronic device as we will land now"

En route Cannes

 I write this post from the unlikeliest location. The ChatrapatiShivaji International airport's free WiFi and my Ipad have joined hands in warm namastey. I am on my way to Cannes. People who know me will vouch for the fact that I am a curious type. A glo-cal, gypsy, butterfly, excited at the mere thought of any out station travel, even to Lonavla. So needless to say, I am looking forward to France. But because I have two hours to kill, and a caffeinated brain, I choose to dissect my excitement.     When I finished the shoot of GOW, all the assistants received postcards from me. Silly nostalgic little reminisces of the past three months (give and take a few weeks).  Yes,  there is excitement about going to one of the biggest film festivals in the world. Yes, it is as much about the fashion as it is the films. Yes, I feel incredibly lucky about getting this opportunity in my very first film as lead.  But I have to confess, I am more curious about knowing what Ghaywan or Bala will wear than meeting Eva Longoria. Or any other such celebrity who is famous enough for the name to become a stereotype. In short, butterflies do somersaults in my stomach when I think of reuniting with the team, or well, at least some of it. The team is so crucial in any film. Sure everybody is a professional, but the  level  of comfort created by a set of good assistants on a film ensures that the comfort translates onto the actor's faces. The performances become natural, wings are not clipped and one feels emboldened enough to improvise. Again, this flows from the core. The  captain of the ship is the one that instils these values. (Anurag Kashyap  in this case).  Well, the best actors don't give two hoots about anything other than the role, but I have a long way to go. The 'social-economic context' affects me on a set. Not an ideal situation, but a human one nonetheless.  After the film wrapped I hosted a tiny luncheon in my house for the over-worked AD team., desperately trying to create more time to reminisce about. So, while I feel fabulously ready, (despite my one and a half functioning legs and the recent wheel-chaired past), my excitement multiplies manifold at the thought of meeting some of the people that contributed to my growth as an actor and a professional ! The screening of our creation....beside the Croisette couldn't hurt either!  Team, here I come, to stand among you in our moment of glory. PS- Siddharth Aryan I shall do you proud. Nishant Bangar we HAVE taken this to the next level.