Junoon | Obsession

5

Madhubala Shamsher Malik looked herself up and down in the mirror as she took in deep breaths.

Just relax, just relax, she mentally pepped herself. You know your job, you know what you're doing, don't let anxiety get the best of you!

"Madhu, come and eat breakfast," Padmini called out. "You have to get to the studio on time."

"Coming," Madhu hollered back.

She took in another deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "You can do this, you've got this! You. Can. Do this!"

A smile spread across her face and Madhu headed off with her stuff to join her mother. She quickly ate breakfast, and with enough time on her hands, Madhu headed on out to the studio. Not long later, she arrived, and she made her way to set 6.

You can do this! You can totally do this! Just be confident!

As Madhu entered the studio, she took a look around. There were several people here already, mainly crewmen, doing a variety of work.

"Ah! You're here!"

Madhu turned around to see Mr. Mishra. "Good morning, Sir."

"Good morning! Good morning," the director smiled as he stepped over. "Excited for the day?"

"Anxious, truth be told," she smiled sheepishly.

"Not to worry," he chuckled lightly. "Let me show you where you'll be working; some of the other artists are here as well, they'll help walk you through things."

"Sure," and Madhu followed after Mishra.

While Madhu was getting the breakdown of her job, some of the extras began to arrive. The look that the director was going for was explained, Madhu and the other makeup artists understanding and working it out. They started to get right down to work, and as they helped prepare for these people, over on the other side of the set, the hero of the film arrived - RK the Superstar!

One look at him, and people got an idea that his mood was much better than what it was two days ago. They mentally hoped that there wouldn't be much yelling or scolding from the man today, especially when they were filming the final scenes of this comedy film today.

RK met up with Mishra first, getting a briefing as Bittuji stayed by his side, then headed off to his trailer. As he went through his script and changed into his costume, Madhu happily worked away, her stress and worries having quickly gone away once she got into the flow of things. Everyone was very nice to her, and she got along with them quite well. She got to learn that some of the makeup artists would also be working with Mishra on his next movie, and when she told them about his offer to her, they all quickly agreed that she should definitely take the job.

"You're talented and these opportunities don't just come that easily," one of the artists said to her.

"It's a golden opportunity, you should totally take it," another one said.

"Yeah, you should totally," said the extra that Madhu was currently working on.

Madhu looked from each of them. "Um... when you guys say it like that... yeah, I guess why not," she beamed.

*~*

Finally ready to get started with filming, the extras made their way onto the set. They were soon joined by RK and his heroine, and were all ready to start with the first take. Back in the makeup room, Madhu was gathering her things to keep them in one place.

"We should go to the set in case anyone needs touch ups," one of her fellow makeup artists said.

The others mumbled in agreement, as did Madhu, and they headed on over towards the main stage. They stood on the sidelines, watching as all of the actors performed the scene. Madhu watched as RK performed the humorous scene, and she couldn't help but to think of the man she had seen two days ago versus the one before her now.