A/N: AU where there was no Sue. And a RDB and 3 Idiots crossover.
Karan was waiting outside at some bizarre street with a cigarette in his hand, waiting for his mentor to arrive when a cab pulled up beside him. "Is this Andre Istvan's house? I'm Faran Qureshi, joining as his new assistant..." Faran said.
"Nice to meet you. Myself Karan Singhania, mein bhi unhi ke liye wait kar raha hoon. I guess he was waiting for us for quite a while." Karan said, trying to hide his surprise and shock at seeing Faran. "Tum bhi assistant ho kya?" "Haan, I guess he was impressed with my work too... Nice meeting you" Karan said with a smile.
Thus the two men waited in comfortable silence for the old man, who was taking his own sweet time to collect his belongings and address them. "So... Karan Singhania and Faran Qureshi... impressive photography I must admit but try to keep time boys, it is very important" he said.
"Sorry sir, family problems so it took some time to settle things and actually arrive here." Karan said as he looked down. "And you, you waited for five years to send me your letter. What about that young man?" he asked. "Family pressure. Wanted me to pursue engineering but I swayed them in the end" Faran said.
"Ok. Now listen to me carefully. This training is going to last for 2 years. One year in the wildlife, another to learn still photography, lighting and all the technicalities of photography. You are stuck with me till the end. The final test will be an exhibition with all your photographs, old and new, displayed back at home. Now hurry up, no better time to start than now." he said and hopped onto the jeep, waiting for the other 2 to follow.
"Toh, apne baare mein bathaiye" Faran prompted. "Mein? I like capturing people and moments for most part par... wildlife mein thodi interest hai. Tum?" "Well... mostly wildlife par... Some moments are always worth the perfect pic. Family wagaira?" he asked.
"Dad businessman hai, wanted me to follow his footsteps par... I ended up here anyways. I'd actually received the letter to join him nearly a year ago par... there was some trouble so, abhi abhi aane ki mauka mila" Karan said with a wistful smile.
"Paanch saal pehle likha tha khat ko par... Abba ko toh mujhe engineer banane ka sapna tha. Toh paanch saal padai ki aur phir doston ke wajah se yeh mauka mila. Dad ko convince karne ke baad aaya hoon mein" Faran said.
And thus the two years passed, their friendship grew but there was only one thing that was always bothering them both. Their friends.
"Karan yaar, tumhare dost ke baare mein kuch aur batha na?" Faran whined. "India waapas jaane ke baad. Anyways you'll meet them at the exhibition na?" Karan curtly replied. "Par uske liye toh abhi bhi do mahine hai. Picture toh dikhado" he asked.
"Tum tumhare friends ki picture dikha aur mein apna" Karan compromised and Faran went silent as he didn't want to show his incomplete photos and ruin his surprise.
"What is going to be the theme?" "Moments" "What pics are you going to pick?" "Surprise hai, exhibition ke samay mein dhikadoonga. Invites wagaira post karenge ya email" "I think email is the best option for now... post kiya toh paunchane mein dher hogi" Faran said contemplatively and Karan hummed.
"Exhibition ke liye ad posters mein humare pictures lagani hai kya?" he asked Karan. Karan seemed to ponder a bit before shaking his head. "Thoda gadbad hone ki chances hai... it is best if we don't." Karan said.
"Par kyon?" Faran asked curiously. "The area we are setting it up... its the best Faran. Trust me, you will understand when you see it." he said and Faran left it at that.
The two months of prep passed quickly and before they knew it, it was the day before the exhibition. "Darr lag raha hai kya?" Faran whispered. "Haan, thoda... first exhibition hai na, isi liye. Plus aane ke baad kisi se milne ki chance hi nahi mila toh... shaayad mujhe daant padenge uske liye" Karan said with a chuckle.
"Haan, haan, mujhe bhi shaayad abba aur ammi se daant milegi isi wajah se... but I think they will be proud of us right? Tumhara baap aa rahe hai kya?" "Nahi, the minute I chose to do photography... he nearly disowned me. Mere friends hi mujhe support kiye the iske liye. Your idiots are also coming right?" Karan asked.
"Ek toh aayega par... doosre ki koi atha patha nahi hai... so patha nahi woh aayega ya nahi." Faran said sadly. "Mera bhi ek dost hai... bhai ki tarah hai woh... even I don't think he'll be there tomorrow." Karan disclosed.
"Kya hua usko?" "Accident tha... Just on the day I got the letter from sir... Aana nahi chahtha tha par... they all forced me to go and not miss the opportunity... The last I heard, woh abhi bhi coma mein hai." Karan said and Faran hugged him tight.
"And I am glad they did so. Nahi toh tum mujhe nahi milgaya hota na? When do we break it to them?" Faran asked. "Exhibition ke baad, probably will be the best..."
That morning was quite a busy morning for the duo as they set up all the pictures and checked whether everything was ready for the final showdown. The exhibition was set to start in an hour and the two were going through the last minute details when Faran's parents and Ajay's mother arrived.
"Arey Karan beta, do hafte ho chuki hai waapas aakar aur ek baar bhi milne nahi aaya tune? Phone bhi nahi kiya." Mrs. Rathod said in mock disappointment. "Sorry ma, thoda busy tha yeh exhibition set up karne mein... Ajay kaisa hai? Baaki sab kahaan hai?" he asked in concern.
"Sab Ajay ke saath hai. Thodi improvements hai thabiat mein toh... jaldi theek ho jaayega." she said with a smile. "Achcha, tumhara yeh dost kaun hai? I wanted to meet him before the exhibition starts" she asked and Karan smiled as he led her to the other side where Faran was talking with his parents.
"Oi Faran, intro nahi karwayega kya? This is Mrs. Rathod, my friend Ajay's mother and she's like my second mother. Maa, yeh Faran hai, mere saath in do saalon mein photography assistant tha" Karan said with a smile and she stood there staring at Faran in shock before regaining her senses.
"Nice to meet you beta. Karan tumhare baare mein bohot baath kartha hai" she said with a smile. "Nice to meet you too aunty. Yeh mere Ammi aur Abba hai aur woh Karan hai." Faran said with a smile and dragged Karan to a corner as he let the adults talk.
"Mann kar raha hai ki tumhe abhi khaa jaaun" Faran said as he trapped Karan between his hands. "Exhibit ke baad. We don't want them to confront us now... do we?" Karan asked as he gave him a small peck before pushing him away playfully.
"Friends aa rahe hai kya?" Faran asked hopefully. "Shaayad nahi. At least, abhi tak nahi aaye hai. Tumhara?" "Best friends ke baath karen toh they are not responding..." Faran said with a frown. Before they could talk any further though, there seemed to be a commotion outside and Faran sighed before going to look at what's happening.
"Bilkul Ajay ki tarah dikh raha hai... well, with glasses par woh abhi ke liye chhod do. Kab bathane wale the iske baare mein" she asked with a teasing nudge as she approached Karan again. "Kiske baare mein?" Karan asked in confusion. "Arey, tum dono ke baare mein, aur kya?" she asked as if it was obvious.
"Maa, hum bas friends hai. Humare beech mein koi chakkar nahi chal rahi hai" Karan stammered as he looked around nervously. "Arey yaar, front mein toh jagda hi jagda ho rahi hai yaar and probably thodi milan bhi. Kuch dekkar batha na" Laxman said as he walked into the place from the back door.
"Haan haan, woh toh hai... place toh achcha set up kardiya hai par... its just missing something... why have you covered these photographs?" Aslam asked.
"Laxman? Aslam? Baaki sab kahaan hai? Kuch nahi, those are surprise pictures... exhibition shuru hone ke baad reveal karenge hum." Karan said as he hugged them both tightly. "Aa rahe hai. Did you think they'll miss this?" Laxman asked as if it was the most obvious thing... which it was.
"Dekh saale ko, do saal kya videsh gaya aur hum sab ko bhool kar replace bhi kardiya" Ajay said playfully to Sonia as she rolled him in, the rest of the gang following behind. Karan turned towards them with a huge and hopeful smile on his face.
"Ajay!!!!!! Yeh kab hua tha yaar! And good to see you guys too, missed you all sooo much!" Karan exclaimed as he tried to pull them all into a hug.
"Do mahine ho chuki hai. Socha ki we'll give you a surprise" Ajay said with a shrug. "He means to say that do mahine pehle hi it gaya par... you were also returning soon toh he thought it will be better to surprise you face to face kyon ki is baath ko phone mein kehne mein mazaa kya hai?" DJ said with a smile.
Karan just shook his head at their antics. "Back door se kyon aa rahe hai tum sab?" he asked. "Front mein toh crowd hai aur bada commotion bhi chal rahi hai toh... plus wheelchair wahaan se gusana bohot mushkil tha. Woh humshakal kaun tha?" Sonia asked.
"Woh Faran hai, the other assistant I was talking about... aur maine tum logon ko replace nahi kiya for your information. Ek second, I will just look at what is happening up front" he excused himself and left them to look around.
A few minutes before:
"Arey, please yaar, andhar toh jaane do, Faran ki dost hoon main" a man who looked like a school teacher asked. "Sorry sir, aapke paas toh pass bhi nahi hai, na hi aap apne naam bol rahe hai so andhar jaane nahi de saktha main." the security guard said and the man was ready to pull his hair in frustration when someone patted on his shoulder.
The man turned, only to get slapped hard by another man before getting pulled into a hug. "Saale kaminey, out of grid chalagaya tune hum sab ko akele chhod kar. Ab yaad aa rahi hai kya humare baare mein?" he muttered. "Main bhi tumhe miss kiya tha Rastogi. And ek aur dost ke saath aaya hoon" he said as he pointed towards another man.
"Saale, millimeter kab centimeter bangaya re!" Raju said with a laugh as he pulled him into the hug. "Sahab ne train ticket bechi aur main train ko pakadli. Simple as that" MM said with a shrug.
"Ab entry kardo na yaar, please" he asked with a pleading smile on his face. And then started the word war between the four of them so much so that it attracted a huge crowd and Faran had to come out to settle it.
"Ab kya chal rahi hai yahaan?" he asked. "Do log andhar aane ke liye zid kar rahe hai par koi pass nahi hai unke paas." the guard said dutifully.
"Arey yaar, main kya karoon? Saale ne toh mujhe invite bejne toh important hi nahi samjha. Online mein dekkar patha chala mujhe" the guy said with a pout. "Bej diya hota agar tune tumhari atha patha ki baare mein kuch toh mere paas diye hote saale kaminey Rancho" Faran scolded as he pulled him into a hug.
"Oi Faran! bas thees minute baaki hai. Kuch cheeze set up karna abhi bhi baaki hai yaar" Karan called out, breaking the hug. "Boyfriend se kab milaoge?" Raju asked and Faran blushed as he denied the claim. "Bhaisaab, mere saath hai teeno. Andhar aane deejiye. And people, the exhibit will start in 30 minutes, thank you for coming" Faran said with a smile as he skipped inside.
"Karan, kya hua?" Faran asked and froze as he saw his mirror image sitting on a wheelchair flanked by the mirror images of the other 2 idiots. "Haan, isi liye bulvaya tha, intro karvane ke liye. Wheelchair mein toh Ajay hai, thats his fiance Sonia, Sukhi, DJ aur last mein Aslam aur Laxman... my gang and guys, thats Faran... Chaunk kyon gaye?" Karan asked.
"Idiots aayenge toh patha chalega" Faran said, blinking at the sight. And as if summoned, the idiots also came in, laughing loudly about something, causing heads to turn their way.
"Now I understand..." Karan said with a gulp as he simultaneously glanced between Rancho, DJ, Sukhi and Raju, who were more interested in staring at each other.
"Woh glasses wala Rancho hai aur doosra jo... Sukhi? ke tarah diktha hai, woh Raju hai and last but not the least, the one who decided to tag along, Millimeter." "Manmohan hai mera naam" he deadpanned and Faran shrugged. "Ok, ok, Millimeter jo kilometer baaghne ki baad ab centimeter ban raha hai" Faran amended.
"Surprise photos kya hai yaar?" Sukhi asked with a pout as he tried to take a sneak peak of it. "Reveal karden?" Karan asked and Faran nodded. "Final picture toh hum bhi nahi dekhi toh... maybe we will." Faran agreed and they each took a corner to lift up the cloth, to reveal a collage of all the pictures, which coincidentally formed their faces close to each other.
"Dene padeki usko credit... his sense of humour is too much" they chorused with a blush, especially when they spotted the undernote given by him.
"Dekh! Woh graduation day pic hai na?" "Aur woh, the proposal scene..." "And is that the balatkar scene?" "And that... you took that pic?" Aslam asked with a blush as he glanced at the pic of him painting one of Karan's pictures.
The exhibit started, ran till the end of the time alloted, and ended with a bang. There was a celebratory party, filled with conversations and laughter as those involved got to know each other more and the day ended with Faran and Karan outing themselves in the a way they hadn't planned... How did they do it? I will leave it to you guys.
A/N: Oook, that was that, another spontaneously written fic so... I did not edit it before posting... as usual. Hope you all like it! All comments and criticisms accpeted and appreciated! Prompts are welcome!
Thank you all for reading!!!!!!!
Rasnak signing off :) ;)
UPDATED ON 12 JULY 2020