Chapter 425: Twists and Turns
While Ron was playing games with Ravi, Chopra called.
He was very direct, "Man, we missed you, do you want to come and watch a movie?"
So Ron went out, and called Urmila along.
He treated everyone equally and only brought Urmila and Vanessa with him for the film.
Sun TV is looking for Mary and Lena to go to Soul Electric and visit Lazhu.
Usually, it was Isha or Kavya who accompanied him, oh, and occasionally he would go to Nia's place.
In short, he is a professional in time management.
Ron's life isn't all business; he also relaxes.
For example, going on vacation to Goa, or having a couple of drinks with Chopra and the others.
The little profit he made from investing in movies was a drop in the bucket for him, and his connections in Bollywood were of no importance.
But humans are social creatures and cannot always indulge in calculations. Ron regarded this as a leisure time among friends.
Speaking of Chopra, well, this guy's old problem has come back again.
Recently, he often called to talk about business and art, and asked Ron how to choose.
He said that there were two voices in his heart that were arguing with each other. One voice belonged to Chopra, a pioneering producer who was a disciple of the great directors Ghatak and Mani Kaul, an admirer of Kurosawa, and a graduate of the Pune Film Institute.
Another voice belongs to director Chopra, who dares not stop at the right point in his works in order to cater to the audience, and who repeatedly compromises with mainstream films in Mumbai in order to prove his commercial value to his half-brother.
If he could have completely reconciled with one of his selves and become a thoroughgoing Bollywood commercial film director or a dedicated art film producer, he would not have been so miserable.
This pain and entanglement is also reflected in his films, which prevented him from winning an Oscar for the artistry of his works, nor from achieving box office success for the commerciality of his works.
Chopra is attached to her home but has little affection for the city.
"Mumbai doesn't hold my heart. If I could move to Florida with my friends, I wouldn't hesitate at all. Mumbai has become a completely stupid city since the BJP came to power. If anyone is to be blamed for ruining Mumbai, it's Bal Thackeray."
Chopra is quite direct in his words. He dislikes the Shiv Sena and believes that the arrest of his close friend Sanjay Dutt might have been due to their involvement.
Although Ron later interceded with Thackeray and got Sanjay Dutt out, Chopra still didn't like the rude Shiv Sena.
This may be a common trait of intellectuals, who hate unreasonable and reckless mass agitators.
A government official had told Chopra that if he wanted to be exempted from paying taxes on his last film, "Karma", he had to meet Bal Thackeray.
The most effective means for the government to regulate the film market is not film censorship, but film taxation.
Obtaining duty-free status would significantly reduce the price of movie tickets, potentially by as much as 50%, and could mean the difference between a film losing all its money or becoming a huge success.
But Chopra will not kowtow to Thackeray, saying that if the Shiv Sena leader tries to cause trouble for him, he will leave the country without looking back.
This is related to the so-called "new Quit India movement" that has recently quietly emerged in Mumbai.
About fifty pioneers of Bombay, mainly dancers, actors, diplomats, etc., formed a self-exiled team through the coordination of a Parsi barber.
The barber, who presides over some of the city's most prestigious heads, invited Chopra and her sister Anu to join the pioneering ranks.
They decided to immigrate to Vancouver collectively, so they held a meeting and invited relevant experts to give lectures to explain the process of going abroad and how to live in Canada.
These people are wealthy and can easily afford the $200,000 required to obtain a green card in Canada.
This is a typical Mumbaikar fantasy of exile: they want to leave Mumbai, but take Mumbai with them.
Members of the new Quit India Movement hope to travel halfway around the world, still living in their comfort zone, to rebuild Malabar Hill in the more hospitable environment of North America.
In Ron's opinion, these people are just idle and do nonsense every day.
It turns out that the Indians' occupation of the Jamaica beach began at this time, and this small group of rich people were the earliest guides.
As we all know, when an Indian appears in a place, soon there will be a large group of Indians there.
Their reproduction speed is comparable to that of cockroaches. If they are not controlled, they may eventually be replaced by others.
The pre-production for Chopra's film has been completed and the shooting is about to begin. There are many unexpected guests at his house.
"You know, I went to see Amit Bachchan again later," he said.
"Why?"
"After all, he is a superstar and can guarantee the appeal of our film."
Chopra actually tried to revise the script once, and then visited Bachchan again late at night with the revised script.
His wife Jaya Bachchan, also an actress, his son Abhishek and the family accountant were also present.
Jaya is a dignified and elegant woman, and the same delightful grace that she displayed in films like Identity and Beauty Pearl can still be seen in her.
Chopra sat with them in the living room for a while, eating snacks and talking about the recently released Starr Report, which was American gossip.
Bachchan viewed the recent bombing of the US embassy in East Africa as a ploy by the US government to divert public attention from the Trump-Lewinsky scandal.
Chopra once again felt the lingering influence of the "conspiracy theory" on Bachchan, and that was when he decided not to invite the former superstar.
Despite this, he still discussed the script seriously with Bachchan. It was already three o'clock in the morning. He said good night to Jaya and went upstairs to Bachchan's study.
Bachchan praised the revised script highly, but Chopra felt that he was very tired and just wanted to end the meeting as soon as possible.
An hour later they walked down the stairs and saw Jaya still busy in the dim light downstairs, the carpet absorbing the sound of her footsteps.
Chopra was surprised; he thought they were all asleep.
"I don't go to bed until at least 4:30 every day," she replied. "Our whole family suffers from insomnia."
His son Abhisit and the accountant came out from the shadows; they were also awake.
Bachchan also came downstairs and sat down at a table with salted snacks. Jaya brought a plate of Rajasthani specialties.
They seemed fully prepared and could have talked for another hour. Chopra quickly excused himself, leaving the night owls in the house.
“He was too obsessed with conspiracy theories and was very adamant about the script, so in the end I chose Sanjay.”
Sanjay, who was sitting on the sofa, nodded over here. He will play the role of a policeman in the movie and is one of the male protagonists.
"You are the director." Ron shrugged indifferently.
But he couldn't help laughing in his heart. Sanjay was arrested as a terrorist before, but now he has to play a policeman.
This is hilarious, especially since the police officer is trying to catch a terrorist in a movie.
"The other protagonist is Shah Rukh Khan," Chopra introduced.
He is here today too. Judging by traditional aesthetics, Cell is not handsome, but he is smart, focused, and full of energy.
He wore a black shirt unbuttoned to the chest, revealing a smooth, hairless chest, and blue jeans that were so long they hid the sneakers underneath.
Instead of folding them, he let them drag on the ground and wear the edges out.
Ron and Shah Rukh Khan knew each other. They had met each other as early as when they were on Sun TV's "Celebrity Cooking Competition".
Cell was extremely respectful to Ron, not only because of Mr. Soul's identity, but also because Ron had saved his life.
Sometime two years ago, Cell was blackmailed by gangsters, and it was Ron who finally settled the matter for him.
The Chopra family's servant and cook, Hem, was not in the kitchen, so Anu said she would make tea.
Seeing that Chopra and Ron still had something to say, Shalu immediately stood up and said, "No, no, I'll make tea. The tea I make is delicious."
He then walked into the kitchen quite neatly.
Tsk, he is worthy of being a big star, his emotional intelligence is impeccable.
After a while, the servant Hem came back and also walked towards the kitchen.
"If he came into the kitchen at this time, he would probably have a heart attack," Chopra laughed.
As expected, Hem entered the kitchen and saw someone pounding cardamom nuts to make tea. He was very unhappy that the uninvited guest had taken over his work.
He thought this man was a newly hired servant who was vying for favor with his master on his first day.
It was not until Cell came out with a tray that Hem realized that everyone treated him like a servant, and then he realized who the person in the kitchen was.
Stars are not born, they become stars because of the beautification of the camera and the fantasy of their followers.
Shalu is currently the hottest star in both India and Pakistan. Indian soldiers recently captured two young Indian boys who tried to enter the country illegally from Kashmir.
They wanted to sneak into India not to join any organization, but to cross the border regardless of life and death just to come to Mumbai to see their idol Shah Rukh Khan.
This is the charm of Bollywood stars, which radiates throughout the Indian subcontinent.
The choice of the female lead is less important than the male lead. In an action film, the female lead's role is only slightly more important than the background.
Chopra has already approached the beautiful Tabu, who is very charming in her looks.
"Do you want to meet her? You're an investor in the movie."
"No, I don't have time." Ron shook his head.
He is actually not interested in film casting, he is here purely to relax.
When Bollywood movies are looking for a female lead, they basically choose whoever is popular.
They are all vases anyway, there is no difference.
"When are you going to start filming?" he asked.
"It's the end of the year, and there's snow there."
"That's a long time," Ron complained.
If he remembered correctly, the script of this movie started to be polished last year.
As a result, a year has passed and the role has not been decided yet.
In other words, Ron doesn't care about the film's return cycle. If it were other investors, they would have urged Chopra to start work every day.
"Slow work, fine work." The guy laughed.
Ron was too lazy to pay attention to him, but he did need to say hello to the military in Kashmir, and Chopra would be going to the location for filming soon.
After having a meal with Urmila, they left.
As 1998 drew to a close, the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis seemed to be gradually dissipating.
Ron plans to contact the team in Goa to learn about the operations of the steel plant.
But Aijie called and said that some things had to be handled by him.
(End of this chapter)
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