Free Bollywood Confidential by Sonia Singh Page B

to regain his balance in time and looked to see if anyone had noticed.
    They hadn’t.
    Embarrassed, he arranged his features into a cool arrogant look—the one he’d perfected in many of his films—and started towards the group.
    There was the annoying Randy Kapoor, Lollipop, with whom he’d worked in the past, and Veer. Veer was the best in the biz and a good man to boot. When he saw Daddy, his smile was natural and not forced like usual.
    Although he only glanced quickly at the young woman, he took in everything about her from head to toe.
    Siddharth was curious about what had brought his co-star all the way to Bombay. Many of his fellow actors and actresses in India dreamt of a Hollywood offer. Aishwariya, the highest paid actress in Bollywood, had two Hollywood offers on her plate. There was even talk she might be in the running to play one of the Bond girls in 007’s next movie.
    Siddharth stiffened as Randy patted his shoulder. “Sid, this is Raveena, your costar. Raveena, meet the biggest star in India.”
    Raveena smiled. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
    Siddharth was a bit taken aback by Raveena’s easy friendliness. Suddenly he was struck by a painful attack of shyness. He’d been affected by the problem since he was a kid. Because of his looks, he was often singled out. Women would come up to him on the street and pinch his cheeks and stroke his hair. Siddharth, a natural introvert, had dreaded these encounters.
    As an adult, he still did.
    Outside the studio gate, a crowd of female fans was openly goggling at him. Half of them looked as though their eyes would bulge out of their faces.
    When he spoke, his words came out stiff and forced. “How are you enjoying Bombay, Raveena?”
    â€œI’m still absorbing everything. Bombay is…so much.”
    Siddharth nodded at her response, and then quickly turned away. He wasn’t good at polite conversation and preferred not to indulge in it.
    Randy clapped his hands. “Come on everyone! I’ve ordered a lavish South Indian lunch.”
    Siddharth wanted to say something to Raveena, something witty and urbane, but he couldn’t think of anything other than “How was your flight?” or “What’s your favorite movie?” and those questions sounded dumb. So instead, he took a seat at the table inside next to Veer, and the two started up a conversation about location shoots.

Chapter 19
    Isn’t it nice when a gorgeous guy dismisses you with one casual glance?
    Really does wonders for the self-esteem.
    Of course, Raveena still wanted to jump on Siddharth and bite his neck, even if he didn’t say one thing to her during the meal.
    After a long lunch inside the air-conditioned studio spent gorging on South Indian cuisine—potato curry, coconut chutney, dosas stuffed with tomatoes, green chilies, coriander and onions and spicy lentil sambar —Randy had announced that the cast and crew were to report to the studio the next morning at nine a.m.
    Raveena wasn’t sure what exactly they would be doing the next day. Since there was no script, there wouldn’t be the usual table read, and Randy had dismissed Veer’s question about a storyboard.
    She supposed she’d find out the next day.
    While everyone jumped into their cars, Raveena hailed an auto-rickshaw to take her back to Uncle Heeru’s.
    Â 
    Uncle Heeru wouldn’t stop yelling.
    The two plumbers he’d hired stood side by side and stared down at the ground.
    â€œCheaters! Duffers!” Uncle Heeru yelled.
    Apparently, after the plumbers had shown up for work four hours late, Uncle Heeru had discovered them sprawled on the floor of the downstairs bathroom reading the newspaper instead of fixing the plumbing.
    Eyes blazing, glasses hanging by one ear, Uncle Heeru turned to Raveena. “Does this happen in America? Indians have no work ethic! Bloody, lazy people!” He reached