Parallel

                                    

                                          
'So, you know since the two of you did that ad a few moths back, a lot of people have been asking if we're going to see you do a film with Varun Dhawan?' Faridoon asks the actress sitting opposite him. 
                          
'Uh, agar opportunity mila toh yeah, I don't see why not. But for us to do a film together there has to be a script and producers have to want to cast us in a film together which, as of yet, hasn't happened.' answers the actress - a girl in her mid-twenties who goes by the name of Alia Bhatt. 
                          
'You know just that short ad you did, the chemistry between you was really good.' the journalist compliments. She simply lets out a small laugh and a smile, waiting for the next question. 'I think there's probably a lot of directors who'd love to have the two of you in a film.' 
                          
'Thank you. Honestly, I would like to work with him if I had the chance, but I think, even if directors wanted to cast us together, producers might not be completely on board.' she laughs. 
                          
'Why not?'
                          
'Humare acting styles bahot alag hain. Vo mainly commercial films karta hain, like we say massy films, and the films I've done are more, you know, jo paise se zyada critical acclaim milta hain.' (Our acting styles are very different. He mainly does commercial films... the ones that get more critical acclaim than money.) she explains. 
                          
'Have you ever thought about doing more commercial cinema?'
                          
'Of course I have. In fact the reason I wanted to be an actor was because of films like Haseena Man Jayegi and Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham. But then I got into films and the kinds of rolls I've been offered were the more niche films I guess.' she says with a shrug. 
                          
'So it's not like you have anything against commercial cinema then?' the interviewer questions. 
                          
'Not at all. I think it's great and we need films like that just as much as we need the more... what people call content-based films. Yeh sab deep, emotional, thought-provoking films acche hain lekin voh jo hum commercial kehte hain, voh humara industry ka basis hain. The song and dance, the love stories, that's the origins of Hindi cinema. There's no reason for us to say we're not going to make films like that anymore just because people think they're not intellectually challenging or something. And commercial films mein bhi message hosakta hain. Aise nahi hain ki iss film mein bohot saare gaana hain aur Manish Malhotra costumes hain aur typical love story hain isiliye kuch message nahin hain, bas time pass film hain.' (All these deep, emotional thought-provoking films are good but, those that we call commercial, they're the basis of our industry... And commercial films can have a message too. It's not like because this film has a lot of songs and Manish Malhotra costumes and a typical love story that there's no message, just time pass films.) 
                          
'So you would do a commercial film then? If you were offered?' Faridoon questions. 
                          
'Of course. It's just that I'm not offered them. I mean, the one time I did try to do a film like that, it flopped and I guess people just took that to mean that I couldn't do it. Maybe that's true but if I get the chance, I'd love to try again.' she answers easily. 
                          
The next question moves the interview to a different topic and takes Alia's mind from the thoughts that she hasn't entertained since the beginning of her career, nearly seven years ago now. 
                          
***
                          
When she gets home that evening, she finds a script waiting for her; the first few pages alone tell her that it is yet another film that is more for the critics than the audience and she sets it aside with a sigh, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the sofa she's sat on. 
                          
She loves her job, she really does. She loves the films she makes and the fact that they make a difference but sometimes, she wishes she'd made different choices.