Akshara
"Hi Akshara, I'm Vaibhavi. Please take a seat" the intimacy coordinator says as I enter the cabin.
"Hey" I reply confidently and take my seat.
As an actor, I've shot intimate scenes before and so I know the protocol. Vaibhavi will discuss what level of intimacy is expected from me in the film, I will tell her what I'm not comfortable with so we can work that out and then she'll confirm my limit zones.
It's very practical you see, even if it doesn't look that way when you watch a scene.
An intimate scene is so thoroughly choreographed that an actor need not worry about their physical limits, they just have to focus on their emotions.
"You know the process Akshara but as the intimacy coordinator, let me just reaffirm.
The film will have a few kissing scenes as you know. There would be other intimate scenes too, as you must have read in the script.
Is there any physical limit apart from the ones mentioned in the contract?"
As the contract mentions everything that I am uncomfortable with, I say no to her question.
"Any other limitations that we must keep in mind?"
"I just want to be able to take a timeout if at all I'm ever uncomfortable during an ongoing scene"
She nods "Absolutely"
"I think that's it then" she speaks up again "Now that I've spoken to Abhimanyu and you, I think we can proceed with today's workshop. I'll meet you in the hall in 10 minutes"
I pick up my bag and proceed towards the hall where Abhimanyu is already waiting for me.
"All good?" he asks with a gentle smile and I nod.
I take a chair and think about how quickly everything's moving. We got our schedule for the coming three weeks yesterday. Costumes, choreography and everything else is lined up in the coming days.
And then we get a week off, before we fly to New York to shoot for our first schedule.
After this workshop today, I'm also supposed to meet Veer because he'll be leaving for South Africa tomorrow for shooting.
"Alright, sweethearts. Let's begin" Vaibhavi enters the hall and breaks my chain of thoughts.
I get up immediately and stand alongside Abhimanyu.
"The basics first. Akshara, your character is freakishly extroverted. You should get super comfortable holding Abhimanyu's hand, tapping his shoulder, punching him jokingly and things like that.
Abhimanyu, you need to act hesitant at least for the initial scenes because you're physically and emotionally distant.
Then, during the London layover, there's a kissing scene, the buildup for which would begin from the plane journey itself.
Abhimanyu, you need to portray your attraction timidly. The sexual tension needs to be really high at this point."
Abhimanyu and I nod and start practising the basic scenes where I'm supposed to be holding his hand or tapping his shoulder casually. It's a really simple thing, to be honest, he's been intimate on screen with more actresses than I can count and even though my expertise in that area is comparatively lower, I had shot such scenes with Veer and I didn't feel awkward for the most parts of it. In short, Abhimanyu and I face no difficulty in this part. Hushhh.
"Well done guys. Now, whenever there's an intimate scene and I want the intensity to be higher, I'll use the codeword "Fire up". When I say that, you should know that you need to add more sparks. Simple?"
"Let me know if you're uncomfortable at any point" Abhimanyu whispers in my ear, leaving me a bit surprised by the sudden closeness.
I immediately regain control of myself "And vice versa" I say as I look into his eyes and he smiles.
"Ready. Go." Vaibhavi gives the cue.
Abhimanyu walks towards me and as per the script, he twirls me so I crash into his chest, our chests moving in sync.
"Tell me you don't love me Kavya" he says and I'm surprised by how quickly he switched characters. A superstar for a reason.
"I- I-" I pretend to stutter and then look away but he uses his thumb to turn my face towards him.
"Don't you dare look away Kavya" he says, his eyes boring into mine.
"Fire up" Vaibhavi says in the background.
"I don't" I spit out, with deliberate difficulty and his grip around my waist hardens.
I feel goosebumps on my back, just where his hand is, even though it wasn't intended.
"Your body says otherwise" Abhimanyu says as his brings his face closer to mine.
"The drumming of your heartbeat says otherwise" he places his lips on my neck and I moan a little. (The script wanted me to!)
"Your reaction to my touch says otherwise" he whispers against my neck.
"Oh my God!!!" Vaibhavi speaks up really loudly and we both pull apart.
"You fired the fuck up. Wohoooo." she claps and Abhimanyu clears his throat.
"Thankyou" I say and then we proceed on to the next scene.
We spend a few hours getting comfortable with the intimate scenes but the one thing that we don't practise literally is the kissing scene because Vaibhavi wants the kiss to look completely "fresh" and "raw" when we shoot it for the first time.
By the end of the day, Abhimanyu and I developed a familiarity and sync required to shoot such scenes together.
And the one thing that I notice is how professional he was during the entire workshop. His emotions were 101 and his command over his body language was exceptional.
"Okay Guys, that's it for today. I'll see you both in New York now" Vaibhavi says her goodbyes and leaves us both in the hall.
"Hey Akshara, would you want to-"
My phone rings at that very second, interrupting him.
"You can take that" he says with a smile and I nod.
As my phone displays Veer's name, I immediately realise that I'm late. I had to meet him at 7 and I totally forgot!
"Hi Veer, I'm so sorry I'm late" I immediately speak up as I answer the phone.
"I'll come and get you. Where are you?" he answers, sounding unbothered by the fact that I'm 40 minutes late.
"No. I'll be there-"
"Akshara, you sound really tired, let me pick you up" he insists.
"GoldenAlpha studios"
"Coming in 15 minutes, wait for me" he says and cuts the call as I hear honking sounds in the background.
"You were saying something" I turn around to face Abhimanyu.
"No, nothing important" he purses his lips.
"Are you sure?" I ask again and he nods.
"Let's go" he says as he picks up his bag.
"I'll be waiting for a friend. He'll be here in 15 mins"
His smile falters a bit but he pulls it back up "Let's wait for him in the lobby then. I'll leave when you leave" and he turns around and walks away before I can say anything else.
"By the way, your tactic worked that day. The media was full of articles about your car being spotted in my neighbourhood" I say as we sit in the lobby.
"It's pretty easy to keep them busy" he shakes his head.
He then goes on to tell me how he learnt to handle the media over the years after they gossiped about his alleged marriages and children and what not.
I laughed as he told me about all sorts of stories that were cooked up against him and I was surprised he was so chill about it.
He is also laughing alongside as he says "There was this one time when..."
My phone rings again and I curse internally at the interruption.
"Veer is here" I say and he politely nods.
"I'll walk you out then and then I'll leave too" he says as we walk to the main door.
"There you are" I'm pulled into a hug as Veer's arms engulf me.
"Hi Veer" I hug him back.
"I missed you" he says and I try to smile.
"Oh Hi Abhimayu!" Veer pulls back and extends his hand towards Abhimanyu who was standing behind me.
"Hey Veer" Abhimanyu replies calmly but I can sense that it's not as calm as it seems.
Oh boy, why do I smell trouble?
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Author's Note: Hi Guys, long time I know! It's just that I'm really busy and that I'm super annoyed with YRKKH's storyline at the moment that I don't feel like writing ugghh.
Anyway, how have you been?
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