Road to the Ocean

Chapter 4: Complex blazing Chemistry

It was Tuesday afternoon on Kaisi Ye Yaariyan sets. Richa was in the meeting with MTV along with the other important people of the channel. They were all discussing about the new track which Richa proposed on the table. Manik and Nandini as MaNan were in critical discussion as some agreed to proceed and could visualized the profit it would make where as on the other hand, few weren't sure if it could do well. But, Richa was adamant to convinced them for the track as she thought MaNan was beyond perfect. For Richa, MaNan weren't some money making machine as many in the meeting thought. Manik and Nandini were her dream, more specifically she considered them as her precious blessings. She couldn't tell how MaNan meant the world to her because she knew no one was able to see beyond green bills they would keep in their pockets. She cared less about it and only hoped they all agreed to give her permission to proceed.

"They say, when your intentions are pure and genuine, then nothing can come in between your dreams" Richa thought to herself as she crossed her fingers. MTV and other folks took several hours on the proposal until finally made a mutual decision and agreed to give it a try. This made Richa's day and she couldn't wait to share this blissful news with Parth and Niti. Just then, Parth and Niti arrived to the sets together at the same time. Parth parked his car on the side walk and Niti got out of the Autorikshaw. MTV creative's were about to leave when Richa saw them coming in and without wasting further time she said "I have a good news to share with you guys". Parth and Niti quickly glanced at each other with a huge smile. They knew the reason behind Richa's excitement. Before Richa could say anything further, Parth and Niti together shouted "MaNan" as they stepped into her office. Richa was momentarily a lost of words, but couldn't help laughing at the two antics of the two youngsters that she had come to grow really fond of within just a short span of time. "My psychic Parth and Niti" Richa said while she happily smiled at them. She hugged both of them and said "Now that it has finalized, I want to tell you both that you are now no longer working individually, but you'll have to work together as a team". She wanted to see the team spirit in both of them and she encouraged them to do the job well. She did add how she regret not being able to attend every single shoot, but she would make sure she would keep an eye on the track. Parth and Niti smiled and promised not to disappoint her. Richa left in a hurry as she had to prepare new contract papers for another director she was going to hire for MaNan scenes. Parth and Niti were left alone in the room. Niti turned around towards Parth and saw he was standing, staring at her. He looked so perfect in white T shirt and light green pants. Being six feet 2 inches has its perks, he could be easily intimidating to other people but his charismatic personality really made him stand out and gave off the lead actor vibes. "You are so tall" Niti said. "I could barely come to your shoulders" She added. She went close to him, tried to stand at the same level as him and started measuring her height. She looked down to her feet and then back to Parth's head and shoulder. Her innocence was irresistible and Parth had his eyes on her as he noticed Niti wore a pink jump suit, with a black hat and was looking like a Tom boy. She looked tiny and he straightened his back to tower over her. She noticed he was trying to irritate her because she was too short. "Are you going to say anything?" Niti asked as she noticed Parth was only staring at her since very long. Parth smirked and started to come close to her. "You will have to get used to this as I have already started practicing for my scenes" He said and winked at her. He then held her from shoulders and brought her in front of him. As he started to come close to her, Niti felt her heart bouncing fast. He bent forward and brought his face closer to hers and asked if she remembered what Richa just said. "What?" Niti whispered. "We will have to work together. Don't you know what working together means?" Parth asked intensely. Niti slightly nodded as her own nervousness made her voice disappeared. Parth's intense eyes never left her. They remained lost in each other for a while when Niti suddenly realized he was purposely teasing her. She pushed him away and said "We are professionals and I know what you are trying to say". Parth laughed and said "cute". He bid her bye. Niti stood numb for few seconds. She couldn't explained the butterflies in her stomach. She could feel as if her organs were tearing apart. Parth was playing Manik, there was nothing more. She noticed her heart was still beating fast as she puts her hand over it to be able to count it's beat. She quickly removed her hand and ran away from the office.

Richa and other creative team members were setting up the area for MaNan scenes. It was a transition that was about to take place in Manik's life where his feelings for Aliya was going to wear off. Richa saw Parth and Niti were standing at the corner about 4 feet away from each other. She waved at them and asked them to come to her. Once both reached to her, Richa briefly explained how the scene would transitioned from Aliya-Manik to Nandini-Manik and she wished them luck. Parth looked at Niti from the corner of his eyes and noticed she was lost. He quietly asked her if she was ok. Niti looked at him and replied she is fine. "Good, shall we proceed?" Parth asked. "Ahan" Niti replied instantly.

Parth and Niti were ready to shoot the MaNan scene. Richa came back again and briefly explained what she expected in a scene and insisted them to be themselves only. She was keen to let them improvised on their own because she believed that's how an actor becomes more proficient in their profession. "A cake scene?" Niti asked and chuckled while she held a chocolate cake in her hand. "Do I have to throw a cake on Parth?" Asked Niti, hoping Richa would say yes. "No madam" Parth interrupted. "Koi line do ise la ke" he added and laughed. "Ha ha ha, Parth Samthaan you are so funny" Niti said in an irritating voice. Richa came and explained the scene for the last time. "Focus" Parth said while he made a clown face towards Niti. Then, Parth went to finish the final scene with Aliya while Niti sat down to revised her lines on the chair under the umbrella. She read her script "Nandini accused Manik for sending goons as she thought he was behind her. Manik confronted with Aliya and left her alone". She paused and then continued reading some more..."Then, Manik accidentally stepped on the cake". "Wow" said Parth. "This is really dramatic" he added. Niti turned around and found Parth looking at the script over her shoulders."This is the 20th time I have heard you read the script" said Parth in a teasing tone. Niti couldn't say anything because Parth was standing too close to her, but she ended up rolling her eyes. Manik and Nandini were suppose to do a scene after that. Parth and Niti were prepared to do their scene.

"Lights, Camera ready and.... Action" Shouted Richa. Parth came close to Niti and held her just like the scene demanded. He pinned her to the wall and warned her to never come close to him again. The scene left everyone speechless and Richa could already see the chemistry they were producing. Niti closed her eyes as she felt the sudden pressure in her stomach again. She squeezed her fist as Parth was still holding on to her shoulder as tight as possible. Parth noticed Niti who apparently didn't look too comfortable. He asked Richa to cut the shots in between. "What happened?" Richa questioned. Parth requested to give some time to Niti as she seemed unprepared for the scene. "Let's wait until Niti is ready to keep it well". Niti just looked on towards Parth, tried figuring out her mistakes. She excused herself and walked as fast as possible to her vanity van which wasn't too far from where they were shooting. She locked herself in the van and sat down on the chair. "What is wrong with me?" She asked herself. She inhaled in and exhaled out couple of times and just remembered what Richa has told her earlier. "I need to go with the flow, just be myself. I am Nandini Murthy. A girl who is self-confident, pure, generous and smart" She reminded herself about her character. She reminded herself how important Nandini Murthy is to her.

Parth never had any issues to wait as long as it needed for Niti to take her time. He was being a gentleman than an arrogant actor like others were in the industry. Niti's comfort became his priority more than anything else at his work. He wanted their scenes to come out exceptionally well and for that both Parth and Niti had to be in their comfort zone to be able to performed well. An hour later, Niti came out of her vanity van and said, "I am ready to reshoot the scene". Parth looked towards her as she slowly stepped out from her van. He was genuinely happy to see her looked confident and radiant in her blue kurti-churi daar and braided hair.
Richa took sigh of relief and asked the creative to roll again.

They reshot MaNan scenes and was able to gave flawless performance. The chemistry got even better from the last time as Parth and Niti got to know about the click which Richa used to talk about. The 'click' was their personalities which intended to add spice Into their fictional Manik and Nandini characters. They appreciated each other for being considerate and happily became friends. The day may have not been the best, but their understanding and respect towards each other gave them an easy flow to be able to interacted properly. The day ended well and both went home thinking about their first adventurous day.