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Clash on the beach

Kanchana Suggu

It had to be Goa! A sunny beach, dry fish, muddy boats, statue of Mother Mary, a Francis D’Souza wine shop, women wearing colourful frocks, fishermen in their traditional lungis strolling by…everything looked absolutely authentic.

But, it was not Goa. We were in Madh Island, on the sets of Mansoor Khan’s Josh. The camera crew and junior artistes waited patiently in the blazing sun, unlike the stars who were being followed everywhere by a 'boy' carrying a huge umbrella. The stars we are talking about are Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan who play brother and sister in the film.

A big group of fans had gathered, hoping to get a photograph, an autograph or at least, a glimpse of their favourite stars. A young boy, who saw us go towards Aishwarya Rai’s van and speak to her, quipped, "I have been waiting here since 9 am. I just want one photograph with Aishwarya. I wonder if she’ll agree." It was almost 1 pm then -- obviously, the boy was not short on perseverance.

The shooting, we learnt, would resume in a while. As we looked around the sets, we noticed there were small, freshly painted houses, created to look like a Goan village. When viewed from front, they looked like normal houses. It was only when we looked at them from behind, did we realise that these houses were actually flat planks of softwood with two openings as windows and one as a door.

Just then, Aishwarya stepped out of her van and walked towards the sets. Dressed in blue jeans, dark red top and a black leather jacket, she looked as stunning as ever. The crowd was so mesmerised that instead of running towards her for an autograph, they stood still, staring at her.

Next to descend from their vans were Chandrachur Singh followed by Sharad Saxena. Meanwhile, director Mansoor Khan settled in his seat and was ready for the next shot. All he was waiting for was Shah Rukh Khan.

Finally, Shah Rukh too, appeared. The scene required all the stars -- Shah Rukh, Aishwarya, Sharad Saxena and Chandrachur Singh -- to be present. It had Shah Rukh and Chandrachur confronting each other with Sharad pulling the latter away. Then Shah Rukh, along with sister Aishwarya and a group of friends, walked away from the scene, with a 'we-care-a-damn' look on their faces. The scene was okayed after four takes.

A short break followed. Aishwarya, who had to rush for her next shooting (Sai Paranjpe’s Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke), zoomed off before anyone could even say 'A-S-H.' But for a second, she did manage to pose with a fan for a photograph.

The crew was now ready for the next shot featuring Shah Rukh and Chandrachur. One didn't need to be told to figure out that the two are enemies in the film: Shah Rukh was holding two broken glass bottles menacingly against Chandrachur’s face. Before that, he held Chandrachur’s collar. And every time they had to do a retake, Shah Rukh would promptly put the latter’s collar in place.

After the shot was okayed, the cast got down to having a discussion with the director.

The ground where the set was built was vast. So, while the stars were doing their scenes, about 50 junior artistes were being directed by the assistant director who gave instructions over a loudspeaker. In this particular scene, they had to walk across the ground, greeting one another on the way.

If you thought that the junior artistes have a simple job and get paid for just hovering around in the background, think again. Because they have to work real hard to perfect their scene. At times, they wait for hours just to do a minute's shot. And of course, there is no one to pamper them.

The discussions were apparently over and it looked like the stars were about to leave. We asked Chandrachur about his expectations from the film. "It is, without doubt, a well-made film. Its success or failure, though, depends on the box office," he said. Even though he has not had a big hit, Chandrachur seemed to be quite popular with the crowd. He complied with a few requests to sign autographs.

Shah Rukh was still busy with director Mansoor Khan. His admirers were getting restless, but a group of men formed a circle around him and made sure that no one got anywhere near him, even as he made his way towards his van. The star, however, stopped and posed for a photograph with one family, signed autographs for a couple of fans and left…leaving at least 100 others utterly disappointed.