Part 2 - They shot me !!!

Got up at 10 am. I could not believe the two things that happened in my life the previous day; first, the audition and second, that I actually watched the worst movie of the decade - Love Story 2050 !!!

I finalized the five songs and the classical song the previous night itself. But had to listen to them once more, take the print out of the lyrics and practice one more time before the audition. To be honest, I became better versed in the classical song than those regular songs. Probably, I concentrated more on the former. Unlike the previous day, I was calm and composed; I knew I was not going to get through. Reached the venue, but this time I was all by myself. There was a crowd near the entrance. I saw someone coming out first, and then a woman (who gave the registration form on the first day) came out and called a name and a number(the first audition number); and one of them from the crowd went in. My blood pressure rose as the audition was happening in an open forum and that the whole crowd going to watch me or atleast hear me sing. But again, no cameras!! I waited patiently having frequent glances at the lyrics. It seems that they have selected only 50 from the first audition and there, just in front of me, my ‘competitors’ were rendering keertanas while I was trying my best to learn some typical filmi songs.

At about 3pm, they called my name : Vimal Vijayan, No.649. I gulped (a bit loudly) and went in. Following were the conversations with the judge (which btw was a she and was the same person who judged the first audition) :

Judge : Ok, Vimal, what’s it that you are going to sing ?
Me (Taking out the lyrics of the most simple song) : Eeramaana Rojaave

Judge : Ok. Go ahead.
Me (Looking at the lyrics and singing) : Eeeramaaana Rojaaveeee….Ennai Paarthu Modaadey….(the beginning and the subsequent para)

Judge : Stop! Stop! Enough!
Me (silent) : Gulp (to myself)

Judge : Why are you staring at the lyrics? Don’t you know any of these songs by heart?
Me: I am afraid, I am not well versed in any Tamil song that released before 1990, I need to look at the lyrics to sing.

Judge : Ok then, sing in your regional language if you know any.
Me: I am not comfortable with songs in my regional language either (the real reason is because I don’t know the lyrics of any Malayalam song!)

Judge : Ok baba (seeming irritated), sing in any language, but make sure you sing without lyrics
Me : Ok, I will sing Maaeri for you, it’s a Hindi song from the album Phir Dhoom.

Judge : Maaa....whaaat ? Ok. Go ahead.
Me (placing my lyrics pages on a nearby table and singing once again) : Teriyaaa….Meriyaaa….Pul gayaaa……(sang 7 lines; to be precise)

Judge : Enough !
Me (standing still with an Oo oooh expression)

Judge : Are you sure you can sing Tamil songs on stage without looking at the lyrics?
Me : Yes, that wouldnt b a problem. I didn’t get ample time to learn the lyrics of (judge interrupting)

Judge : So you mean to say we are jobless.
Me : No, I didn’t mean that. These songs are totally new to me and I have learned these 6 songs only for this programme.

Judge : It says that you were born in 1981 and you should be knowing songs that released before 1990? How come you don’t ?
Me : The reason that I am a Keralite and also because I spent the first 15 years of my life in Dubai.

Judge : Why do you have answers for all the questions that I ask (grunts) ??
Me (smiles) : To myself, all questions should have answers, otherwise they become statements u dumbass!!!

Judge : Anyway, thanks a lot. We will let you know.
Me (gathering my lyrics pages) : Thanks (smiles again)

Judge (Ignoring me !)
Me : To myself again, what a cheapo? Why cant she even return a smile?

But wait, she didnt ask me to sing the classical song. Probably she knew that I am not trained and after all that had happened, she must have lost hope on me. Hmmm...I turned back and to my horror, all eyes were on me; my ‘competitiors’ were staring at me. I then realised the situation; it’s a tamil song based show and I just sang a Hindi one. Aaargh ! the humiliation, the embarrassment, the agony ! I decided not to look at anyone’s face. I knew this wasn’t for me. I hate competitions. I moved quickly towards my bike and left the arena ASAP.

Trailor for next week – July 13th and 14th; 5 days of depression, a call and a meeting
What? This is insane. How am I ever going to do this? Is there a way out now? Help….somebody…..anybody !!!!


Part 1 - They shot me !!!