Randeep was recollecting every reference she was giving. He had never thought about all these things. Like always, he used to be in his own world, where he would come on set, prepare for the scenes, perform them and try to stay in the character as much as he can during the free time as he never preferred to lose the momentum of the scene just because of the breaks.
He was a private person. He didn't like to open up much with his professional co-artists, as he wanted to keep his personal things to his family and friends only. He always believed in having a limited number of people in his life. Being at his age, he had already made his friends for lifetime, while Ashi, a little younger than him, was still open to exploring friends.
But when he analyzed, he accepted that Ashi wasn't wrong. In the initial run of the show, maybe first 7-8 months from commencement of the shoot, he used to hangout a lot with the team. They used to celebrate birthdays together, would hangout after the pack-up, they would have group segments sometimes which were always fun, they used to go to movies together, and of course how could he forget their first outdoor shoot of Mount Abu, where they literally had a blast while shooting for it. They all were together 24×7 for that four days of schedule. Travelling in a bus for shooting locations, having sleepover nights in the hotels, the camp-fire dance competition when they were relaxing, everything was like a revisit to their own school-college days. And Ashi wasn't wrong in stating that spending this much time with his on-screen friends may develop a bond of friendship between them, and the expectations coming with it.
He had become close to Sanjay and Raghav too in these years, but he had never termed them as 'friends' in any interview. He always used to say that he shares a good bond with them, but then he had always found both Sanjay and Raghav mentioning him as their 'close friend'. And when their scenes got reduced post wedding track, he preferred to stay alone doing something or other in between the shots.
Well, the same applied with Ashi too. He was always nice to her during segments or during scene discussion, but he never tried to communicate outside of that. Since they used to be together for half of the day, they had started knowing each other, about each other's nature, family members and many such small things. But all that happened always as per convenience.
And this thought never occurred to his mind that even if he doesn't want to mix his professional and personal relationships, there might be a possibility that his co-artists can still expect a healthy relationship from him and expect him to reciprocate some small gestures. And that's how any relationship works... it's always give and take. When the efforts are made only from one side, it becomes lethal, and gradually faces an end.
He realized that he somehow failed to comprehend people around him and their emotions. He gathered courage to speak after listening to all this, "Ashi, I'm really embarrassed of how I behaved with you. Shayad maine tumhe samajhne ki koshish hi nahi ki, sirf tumhe ek costar ki tarah treat kar raha tha. Lekin main yeh bhool gaya ki tumhare bhi mere baare mein kuchh emotions ho sakte hai, opinions ho sakte hai... tumhare bhi kuchh faisle ho sakte hai... I am sorry for all this. Lekin Ashi, isme tumhari koi galti nahi hai, galti meri hai. Mujhe hi bahut samay lagta hai logon ke sath judne mein. Tumhe toh pata hi hai ki mai apne family se kitna close hun. Aur mai hamesha se ek bahut protective environment mein bada hua hun, hamesha bhai ke sath raha hun. Unhone hamesha mujhe galat cheezon se bachaya hai, door rakha hain. Mere khudke dost kam hote the, aur jo bhi hote the woh pehle bhai ke dost hote the. Main jab Pune me tha, toh waha bhi cousins aur bhai ke friends the mere saath. Toh meri ye hamesha hi problem rahi hai dost banane mein, kyunki bhai ke wajah se kabhi kisi dost ki kami hi mehsoos nahi hui. Aur Mumbai aane ke baad bhi kuchh gine-chune hi dost bane mere, kyunki darr laga rahta tha ki kabhi koi insaan galat na nikle. Aadhi cheezon se toh waise bhi mujhe darr lagta hai, aur yeh toh tumne bhi dekha hoga. Aur phir jabse industry mein kaam karna shuru kiya hai, tabse itne alag kisam ke logo ke sath paala pada hai aur kuch experiences bhi aaye, toh insaan unhi se seekh leta hai." He put his side in front of Ashi. It wasn't any excuse to his doing, but just a clarification of why he is the way he is.
YOU ARE READING
Ummeedein
Fanfiction"Neither the 'Best of Friends' who would want to meet often, nor the enemies who would want to kill each other." A relation with so many ups and downs in itself. They respected each other, they were supportive of each other, but still there was some...
