Untold Story

Still from the movie, Raazi

Bijoy Gupta is notorious for sleeping through movies. But yesterday he did not sleep through Raazi (see previous post). He was obliged to stay awake because Shekhawat had specifically requested him for his company and had even picked him up from

Bijoy Gupta

home for the morning show at Fun Cinema.
The movie was billed as a spy thriller, set against the backdrop of the Indo-Pak war of 1971. Starring Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal, it had graphic scenes of INS Vikrant, the first aircraft carrier built in India which enforced the naval

Aman with his mom

blockade of East Pakistan during the war – an event of nostalgic value to Shekhawat.
But not to Gupta. Half an hour into the film, he concluded he had been conned into watching a “documentary” that made no sense. Much to the annoyance of other viewers in the darkness of the auditorium, he

Bihari Milwani (from left) with Karishma, Aman, Anjali and Shekhawat 

declared aloud: “This is not a Hindi film.”
A dozen heads turned around and Shekhawat ssh-ed him. But Gupta remained unaffected and kept fidgeting around continuously. “Let’s go home,” he insisted, disturbing everybody around. Seeing his restlessness, Santosh Tyagi’s granddaughter made a polite remark: “Maybe, uncle does not like the film.”
Still Gupta could not be bothered. He went on to rib Shekhawat for getting him to suffer a good-for-nothing film and in all fairness, the ticket money ought to be refunded. He also threatened to take Shekhawat to task “in front of everybody” when he shows up at the Garden.
But Gupta did not turn up today. Clearly, he was exhausted after yesterday’s experience and his version of the story remains untold.
In his place, we had the pleasure of Mr Aman Aswani’s company during the exercises. A doting grandpa, Bihari Milwani escorted him to the Garden together with his mom Anjali and Karishma mausi. The tiny tot took a while to size us up and thereafter, once the exercises were over, there was no holding him back.
He was all over the place – much to Shekhawat’s infinite wonder and envy.