From me to you...
A couple of weeks ago, I was at a shoot. My friend was worried that I would get terribly bored. It is one thing to watch the scene on television and a completely different experience to watch the scene while it is being constructed. At one point during the shoot, my friend took a break, sat next to me and said, “I am sorry you have to sit through all this…you must be so bored.” I was staring intently at a bunch of guys setting up the camera for the next scene. “I still believe in the magic”, I responded. My friend thought I had lost it. He looked around us – equipment lying around, people all over the place, the complete chaos that usually takes over in between shots. “Magic?? What is so magical about all this”, he asked, amused, bemused and most of all confused. Not wanting to leave my friend in that state before the next shot was called, I decided to explain…
When I was a kid, my best friend and I would go for these magic shows and every time the magician pulled the bunny out of the hat or made some random object disappear, I would be fascinated. My friend, on the other hand would try to dissect the whole act and go for the facts behind how the magician did what he did. So, basically while I would enjoy the show, my friend would be busy watching each and every move in slow motion trying to catch the “magician in the act.” Now I was not a naïve child, and I knew that there was a bunny in the hat already, that the magician’s sleeve was large enough to accommodate the hidden object and that there must be an extra card of the same kind in that deck but….just for those moments…just for that time…I would believe in the magic!"
At university, a friend (an ardent David Blaine fan and follower) started showing a bunch of us some very cool magic tricks using playing cards. Once again, I was fascinated while another friend would question him endlessly about the trick. My magician friend would maintain that it was “pure magic” and leave it at that. Later on, he confided that the greatest reward for any magician were the expressions - the rapture, awe, surprise, shock and delight on his or her audience’s faces. Those expressions on our faces would be what my friend would be focusing on while turning that last card to reveal the “magic” in the trick!
“So, I can see that this is a set, it is a mess, you are an actor and this scene will look perfect when I watch it back on TV but for now…I still believe in the magic…” Needless to say, my friend was completely impressed by the sheer simplicity of my logic and he admitted that this conversation was an inspiration to him as an actor!
I don’t know what fascinates me about the ‘Screen world’ but I do know that even though I have been behind the scenes I have not lost that child-like wonder. Tinsel Gupshup is all about the magic that happens on and off screen. So from me to you, never lose that child-like wonder…it’s important to be practical in life but even it is for a few moments, every single day…believe in the magic!
Gupshupping’ly your’s…
Anjalika Gupta
© Tinsel Gupshup
