Samaira
was from a small village in Uttar-Pradesh. She had run away from her parents’
home at the tender age of 16, to make a name in movies. Her parents had long
ago, disowned her. Though her mother still longed to see her, she couldn’t go
against her strict husband’s wishes, hence refrained from taking Samaira’s telephonic
calls. Her sister Amisha spoke to her, on the sly, sometimes.
After
struggling for 7 long years, enduring the ignominy of the casting couch and
lecherous touts, Samaira had got her first break. Her first movie, Tara, had
broken all box-office records. Then she had never looked back. Now she had
completed 5 years in the industry and commanded awe and envy, wherever she
went. Though she had all the material comforts that stardom could provide, she
was lonely and depressed. Her empty bungalow mocked her when she reached home.
It seemed to say scornfully, “So, was this what you wanted? An empty house and
an empty life, bereft of warmth and love? Money can’t give you love, dearie!”
She had
attempted vying for several co-stars’ attention, unsuccessfully, through these
forlorn years. Each movie gave her hope and rejection! The movie succeeded, but
she didn’t. None of her co-stars desired her, surprisingly, as she had a face
and figure to die for!
She still
remembered the burning humiliation that she had faced, when after a love-scene
in her third movie, she had clung wantonly to her co-star, even after the shot
was cut. The hero had to extricate himself out of her warm and tight clasp,
with great difficulty. The derisive, loud and raucous laughter of those on the
set, then, still rang annoyingly fresh, in her ears. Those were the times that
she cringed with shame. No one had been sensitive enough to deduce her isolation
and need for companionship.
Though she
genuinely fell in love with her co-stars, they thought that she was a girl with
loose morals. When they tried to seduce her, she told them off, in no uncertain
terms, thereby again giving them the impression that she was just a tease and
an attention-grabber. They just couldn’t fathom her actions.
Meanwhile,
she became moody and irascible. A tantrum-queen, if ever there was one! All her
movies’ directors tried to pander to her ego all the while, just to keep her in
a good mood and ensure smooth filming. The heroes avoided her like the plague,
once their shots were over.
In the lonely
nights, she would invariably call up her, by now married elder sister and pour
out her woes, into her willing ears. She was sympathetic but firm in her
opinion that it was high time that Samaira got married and settled down. “You
must return and get married, dear. I’m sure that by now, you must be
disillusioned after seeing the fickle ways of those in the film-industry. I
will try to convince Pitaji to forgive
you…” she would say.
“It’s too
late, Didi, I can never return. I’m
addicted to my work and to my life-style. Good-bye.” The finality and dejection
in Samaira’s voice would send shivers down her sister’s spine. She only hoped and
prayed that Samaira wouldn’t take any rash decision to end her miserable life.
Hence she always spoke to her sympathetically and empathized with her
situation. She knew that she was the only lifeline for her young, misguided
sister.
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To be continued....
The copyright of this story is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
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