Prabhas yawned loudly, grabbing the attention of his friends and staff for the seventh time in a row.
His assistant rushed in with the second cup of steaming, hot coffee while Pramod shook his head going through the daily schedule.
It was an early morning at the office of UV Creations and their hero was simply not in the zone.
"Pramodu, why do you fix urgent appointments in the morning ra? We could've asked them to come after our vacation." Prabhas almost whined.
"Why don't you just get done with this movie once and for all instead of procrastinating? Wouldn't have to worry about returning soon. That's what we always do."
"I understand but.. ahh.. it's different now. I'm tired of promotions. Probably age is getting the best of me," he laughed.
Pramod wanted to say something but held back and got to work.
The assistant ran in again, this time with a grin on his face. The office was echoing with shouts and whistles.
"Okay, are they here? Tell them we can only provide them a fifteen minutes footage. I'm exhausted."
"Annayya, actually it's not just the media."
Everyone's eyes shot up towards the new guests at their door. Prabhas sprang from his seat followed by Bhaskar, Pramod and Vamsi.
"Hey! Look who's here!" the producers exclaimed excitedly.
"Hi!" Sweety replied with equal excitement. She was just back from her not-so-short stay with her parents at Bengaluru.
"Can sir stay here until we leave?" she referred to the adorable, little human in her arms. "Hi babai." she giggled waving the baby's tiny hand.
Vamsi snatched the cutie in no time and there he went, busy being admired by his uncles and others in the house.
Prabhas chuckled, his arms entangled around his wife's body.
"What a surprise!" He kissed her on the cheek getting a passionate one in return. "I missed you guys like never!"
"Amma and Appa wouldn't have let us go if not for our vacation. They wanted you to come over for the upcoming festival." Anushka set her handbag aside still holding her husband tight. Meanwhile , her assistant brought in their champ's powder bag.
"Pupsu, your Amma wants me to help her with a couple of arrangements at home before leaving. Also, we haven't packed yet. So, can you take care of the baby for today? Like until we leave?"
"Sweetu! Eedtho pani cheyyala? Ammo! I have interviews and a script narration."
"I know but.."
"Okay, let's give it a try. He gets along with everyone. Asalu na koduku kada."
Sweety rolled her eyes smiling at him. "Yes yes, your son is everyone's darling already. But let me warn you, he's not that always. Don't forget to feed him his milk, change his nappies and most importantly keep him engaged. You know how he hates being unnoticed."
"Yeah yeah. By the way, did you get papped? We could hear the media outside." They settled on a couch clinging to each other. One of the staffs entered with coffee cups again.
"Don't get me started. It took the driver twenty minutes to get from the street crossing through the entrance gate. And guess what? Sir was enjoying the camera-flashes and hoots. I was astounded! He stood on my lap clapping and gurgling."
"Eedu mana la kadu le. Ippude Bahubali chesestademo."
As much as she didn't want to leave her husband's embrace, Anushka was in a hurry. Their goodbye kiss consumed more time than all their conversations put together.
"Pupsu, come home early." she reminded before talking to her son, friends and all dear staff members.
Anushka Shetty was everyone's driving force at UV and Gopikrishna Productions. Her unparalleled knowledge about movies evolved over time turning her into the best business strategist within their family after constant involvement in production. Be it shooting, marketing, casting or promotional activities, the producers could count on their superstar. Her presence in all events attracted audiences to movies that probably might not have worked in the box office. New talents flourished and together everyone's favourite couple stood as the bridge between South Indian industries and Bollywood. Sometimes Prabhas wondered if he was doing enough.
Carried away by thoughts, Prabhas looked at her black car making way through the crowd. He sighed and turned back to the call of his assistant who had brought little Bahubali into the room. The six-month old pounced at his nanna squealing with joy. The father-son duo had only met on video conferences and man, was it a task to control the lad after their calls hung up.
Prabhas cuddled with the chub pouring his affection. It was as if the former had not seen him in years. In addition, it was his first time at UV office. The enthralled nanna took him around the office showing colourful posters, movie merchandise and a few souvenirs from their holidays.
•-•-•—•-•-•
"Sir, when can we see your son?"
"Sir, we haven't even got a glimpse on social media yet."
"Prabhas garu, can we expect his appearance in any of your movies?"
Prabhas laughed, "He's just six months old! We won't have him in our movies yet but I promise to introduce you all to him real soon. He travelled back from his grandparents' with his mom and is resting inside. Please bless him with the same love you've showered on us all these years."
"Prabhas sir, when will we get to watch you on-screen with Anushka madam again?"
"Apparently after marriage she has a lot of responsibilities apart from family and the baby. You must ask her when she can give me dates." He chortled caressing his moustache. "Madam is busier than me."
A few reporters and cameramen whistled at his statement while others clapped.
"But we miss her on screen. Are you costarring in her 50th movie?"
"One of your directors said he's waiting for Anushka garu's dates to cast her alongside you under UV banner. Is it true?"
"We'll let you know if there's any update. For now, our son has reserved all our call sheets." He scrunched his nose sitting up straight.
"Sir, Anushka garu has been an important part of your life ever since you both met. She too has mentioned that you were her best critic throughout her career," Prabhas pressed his eyelids, chuckling, while remembering an incident "Every single person in this industry knows her as an ideal human being. If you were to describe her through your perspective in this program, what would you you like to say?"
"This reminds me of something I said to her during the Vikramarkudu times. She too revealed this in one of our interviews. I had labelled her an international actor, for fun though, because her face was expressionless while enacting back in early days. But, yes, she always listened. It doesn't cost anything to say things about the person next to you. However, she never perceived my comments negatively. That's how it all started. I know everyone says this about Sweety, but she really is the same inspite of the stature and popularity she has. I am still astonished by the way handles everything herself. It's not easy for a woman in this industry without support. I could not stand by her all the time though I tried but her strength is just unbelievable. I can keep going. My family probably loves her more than me. She has this conviction to pull off any role in life just like how she can be Jejamma, Saroja, Maya or Devasena on-screen. Hehe."
""So Prabhas garu, which role in life do you think she plays the best?"
"We've practically seen success, failures and all that life offered to us together. She's a spectacular actress, not a second thought, but I think somewhere deep down she still wants to live the 'happily ever after' fairy tale. It's her childhood dream and I'm here to make it come true." He gently smiled with his eyes captivating the hearts of everyone around. "In my opinion, seeing Sweety as an amma is most heartwarming andi. Watching her nurture our son is out of the world. Makes me doubt my existence sometimes, it's that ethereal."
The interview took longer than expected and Prabhas was in no mood to work anymore. He rushed to his bundle of joy who was playing with the team and spent the rest of his time pampering him.
•-•-•—•-•-•