The Dirty Picture: The do and don’t die attitude of many aspiring actors in Bollywood is in the arclight since Simran Sood was arrested for the Andheri-Malad murders. They arrive with starry dreams but often take the easy way out to get a break or make a fast buck
MUMBAI: When Rima walked into Mumbai's bright lights - Bollywood and its colourful fringes - she was clueless. "She was a typical small-town girl with no idea about how to dress for maximum effect," says a former roommate of the aspiring actress. Rima couldn't name-drop, she couldn't tell one brand from another, and she certainly had no money to acquire even a pair of designer shoes. "She would simply simper and not talk much."
But a couple of years is a long time in the Bollywood-inspired kitschy subculture that permeates a part of Mumbai's western suburbs. The 22-year-old struggling actress has transformed, almost swan-like, into her new role as a 'hostess' for a leading film distributor.
All she needed for the transformation was 'an introduction', says the former roomie. "Rima managed to get introduced to the distributor at the music launch of one of his films. And she hasn't looked back at us even once." Rima now wears, along with brands and diamonds, a coat of supreme confidence.
This parallel tinsel town begins at Andheri's Lokhandwala and Oshiwara and winds its way up to Malad's Evershine Nagar and a little beyond. Young boys and girls with starry dreams arrive by the dozens every day. Only 3% of these strugglers ever make it to the glitzy side of the real Bollywood, but this depressing statistic never affects the surge of hopefuls who finally don't even care if they make it in film as long as they find some way of earning.
In the struggle for perceived stardom and the mirage of megabucks, ethics and so-called societal values have no place. Rima shed her small-town mores to get a jumpstart in her career path and many like her roommate are clearly jealous. They call themselves aspiring models or aspiring actors as soon as they disembark in Mumbai. It is this world that Simran Sood - one of the accused in the Andheri-Malad murders with gangster Vijay Palande - hails from.
Bollywood's seamy underside is not news. It has been around since the industry began, but what is new is the attitude: do and don't die. In the words of a producer, "There are two types of girls who walk into my office every day. Those who genuinely want a career in film and those who want to use their looks to make money." His coordinator briefs him about the girls who come to his office before bringing them to him. "Simran, to me, looked like the second kind of girl - who was not interested in making a career, yet wanted to make money."
The struggle for the 'strugglers' begins right at the beginning - finding a roof in Mumbai. ModelRozyln Khan, who was questioned by Mumbai police in the Simran-Palande case, says, "There are some who have parental support, but many girls take the easy way out to fulfil their day-to-day needs."
Given Mumbai's prohibitive real estate market, renting a house is no child's play. Says a broker who operates in the Bandra-Goregaon belt, "I get at least 25 girls coming to rent a house in Lokhandwala. They claim they are looking for work in the film or television industry but are willing to pay between Rs 35,000 and 50,000 a month." How? He suggests that they willingly double up as escorts to rich old men enroute to stardom. "These girls will need a lakh a month to keep up their lifestyle," adds the broker.
Given this parallel industry, for the genuine ones, it is often a struggle to ensure that one is not taken for a ride. Khan talks about the routine fake auditions. "There are coordinators who come to offer help but with ulterior motives." She herself went through one of these fake auditions. "I landed up at the audition and found three dirty men sitting there watching me. When I asked why there was no camera, they asked me to perform and even hinted at a 'compromise offer'. I sensed it and walked out," she says.
Another actor, Ankit, almost fell prey to a fake audition. "I got a call one evening for an audition for 'Shootout at Wadala'. But my friend who was with me called up director Sanjay Gupta, who told him that the film's shooting had already started."
An old-timer in the industry reveals that auditions are sometimes euphemism for 'pleasure sessions'. He talks about moneyed people checking out young, good-looking men and women. "An Arab has a flat in Lokhandwala where strugglers are called often for parties and pleasure," he adds.
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