Fountain View

Fountain View

There are many fountains in Lalbagh, Some of which actually work, sometimes, for sometime. Although Venkat had been a Lalbagh walker for many years, and at different times of the day, never had he seen all of them in action simultaneously. But today, as he walked slowly towards the Glass House – he was coming in from the MTR gate, and there’s a bit of an a slope, and he was getting on in years, so it was natural that he walked slowly. Anyway, as Venkat Rao crested the slope, he saw to his delight, that the fountain opposite the Glass House was actually working. I will sit down on one of the benches around the fountain and watch this play of water for some time, he thought.

Just as he had settled down to watch the fountain, some vehicles drove in – which in itself was odd to for no vehicular traffic had been allowed into the park for some years – and parked around the Glass House. People bustled out of the vans carrying equipment and looking for vantage points around the fountain, following the shouted directions of a bearded man with a cap on his head. He continued to sit on his bench where he was had a grandstand view of the fountain and presently he was joined by two other old men, who smiled pleasantly at him, and actually asked for permission before sitting down. Such a change from the rudeness that seems to be all the norm these days, he thought. The fountain continued to work, and an occasional drop, blown by the wind would touch his face. How nice!, he thought. 

Meanwhile, the man with the beard continued his work, looking for angles and checking the light quality with a meter that he held in his hand. Finally, all seemed ready, cameras in place, the light perfect-but there were no calls for action as yet. 

The stars had yet to arrive.Maybe fifteen minutes after the cameras had been set up, there were shouts to be heard near the Glass House, where a curious crowd of onlookers had gathered- the stars had arrived!Presently, a young man and a woman came down the steps to the fountain, where the Director -the bearded man- stood impatiently. stroking his beard.

After exchanging pleasantries, they got down to work. There was to be a song-and-dance sequence around the fountain.

The director was discussing the scene with the actors. Suddenly, he seemed to get an idea and shouted out to one of his henchmen to get the bouquet immediately.The bouquet was brought, and then came the surprise. The director walked up to the people sitting on the bench.”Please hold this bouquet,” he said to Venkat who had only sat down to watch the fountains play, and not be part of the film.

“OK,” said the old man, delighted to be part of the show. The director then went on to explain what his role would be. The girl and the boy, he said, who will be dancing around the fountain, would take turns to stop at the bench where the old man was sitting, who would then  take a flower out of the bouquet and and give it to the actor, along with a blessing and a smile.

“I will do it, sir,”said the old man, happy to help.The director then requested the other people sitting on the bench to move away to another one. The camera would focus on the old man, he explained. The two others sitting on the bench readily agreed. They would watch the fun from the other bench on the opposite side of the fountain.

The shooting began, the director’s voice grew  hoarse, shouting instructions. The bouquet dwindled in size, and had to be replaced several times. Fortunately, the filming crew seemed to have anticipated this, and bouquets were produced as and when the director called for them.

The sun had gone up, and it was now almost ten o’clock.Finally, the director decided that he had got the sequence that he wanted, and called on the crew to pack up.

The old man was happy to see them go – he had got tired of holding the bouquet and smiling, and blessing…

He got up slowly, and decided it was time to go home. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot, and he enjoyed the walk home, thinking about what he would tell his wife, and what she would say when she learnt that he had become a film star. For in his mind, he had decided that offers would start pouring in for him from every- director who wanted a handsome, father in their movie.But, as is usual with such expectations, nothing much happened when he got home. 

His wife asked, “ Why are you so late? I was getting very worried.” And then, as though, she had solved this problem, she continued,  “You must have visited MTR with your friends?”, she said. 

Venkat said “Yes”, and continued, “I had a vada and two idlis, and the sambar wasn’t very good” .  And then, never one to miss a chance to compliment his wife, he said, “You make much better sambar!”.  Kamala, Venkat Rao’s wife was very happy to hear this, even though she had heard this particular compliment many times before. She grumbled a little about not having been taken to MTR for a long time. Venkat promised to take her soon, and said, “we will have their extra-special thali. It’s been quite a while since we have tried that.”

“What did you do after that, then?”, she asked. 

“I walked down to the Glass House, and sat there for some time. And, do you know, the fountain was working, and it was so nice to feel the spray on my face”, Venkat said.

“ Do you know they were shooting a film there, near the fountain?”, Venkat continued. “ And I also acted in it!”, he said triumphantly.  He then went on to explain all that had happened that morning around the Glass House, and left out no detail, going on to explain what the heroine had been wearing and what the Director had said.

“What’s the name of the picture? “, Kamala asked finally, when Venkat had finished. “And who were acting?” 

He was mortified. In the excitement of being filmed, he had completely forgotten to ask about all this. He thought that the actors were Meena and Vijay Kumar, but he couldn’t be sure, for these were. the names that he had been get told by the Director, when he handed over the flowers from the bouquet. Probably these were just the names of the characters in the film, and not the real names of the actors.

He resolved then and there to watch every new Kannada film that was released from then on. He began to keep a look-out for all the posters advertising new releases. Perhaps, he would he even feature on one of the posters. But that would be too much to expect, he thought, with a sigh. It would be wonderful to have become an actor – he should have persisted  with his interest in theatre during his college days.

Maybe it would be a bit difficult to get his wife to agree to this proposition – of watching every single Kannada picture that would be released henceforth – but he hoped to eventually get his way. He could even persuade her to join him in these forays to the theatres – she would be very pleased, he thought. She is always complaining about having to sit at home all day, and not being taken out anywhere by her husband. And most importantly, she would finally see him on the screen, and hear him offer his ‘blessing’ to that girl on the screen, and then what would she say?