I am a master in India

Chapter 425 Twists and turns

While Ron was playing games with Ravi, Chopra called.

He was very straightforward: "Hey buddy, we miss you, wanna come see a movie?"

So Ron went out, and, well, he also took Urmila with him.

He treated everyone equally, only involving Urmila and Vanessa in matters related to the film.

Sun TV then asked Mary and Lena to visit Laju while they were at Suer Electric.

Usually, it's Isa or Kavia who keeps him company, and occasionally he'll go to Nia's place.

In short, he's a professional when it comes to time management.

Ron's life isn't all about business; he also has time to relax.

For example, going on vacation to Goa, or having a couple of drinks with Chopra and his friends.

The profits from film investments are negligible to him, and his Bollywood connections are insignificant.

But humans are social beings and cannot always be immersed in scheming; Ron treated this as a relaxing time with his friends.

Speaking of Chopra, tsk, he's back to his old ways again.

Lately, he's been calling a lot, talking about business and art, and asking Ron how to choose.

He said that he has two opposing voices within him, one belonging to Chopra, a disciple of the great directors Gatak and Manny Kaul, an admirer of Akira Kurosawa, and a pioneering producer who graduated from the Pune Film Academy.

Another voice belongs to director Chopra, who dared not leave anything unsaid in his works in order to cater to the audience, and who repeatedly compromised with mainstream cinema in Mumbai in order to prove his commercial value to his half-brother.

If he could have fully reconciled with one part of himself and become a thoroughly Bollywood commercial film director or a dedicated art film producer, he wouldn't be in so much pain.

This pain and struggle are also reflected in his films, which prevents him from winning an Oscar for the artistry of his works, as well as from achieving box office success due to their commercial appeal.

Chopra was attached to his home, but had little affection for the city.

"Mumbai can't hold my heart. If I could move to Florida with my friends, I wouldn't hesitate at all. Mumbai has become an incredibly stupid city since the Papua New Guinea came to power. If anyone ruined Mumbai, it was definitely Bar Thackeray."

Chopra is quite direct; he dislikes the Shiva Army. His friend Sanjay Dutt's arrest may well have been orchestrated by them.

Although Ron later pleaded with Thackeray to get Sanjay Dutt released, Chopra still disliked the rude Shiva army.

This may be a common trait among intellectuals: they dislike unreasonable and reckless instigators who stir up the masses.

A government official once explicitly told Chopra that if he wanted to avoid paying taxes on his previous film, "Fearless," he had to see Bar Thackeray.

The most effective means for the government to regulate the film market is not film censorship, but film taxation.

Obtaining tax exemption rights can significantly reduce the price of movie tickets, potentially by as much as 50%, and could mean either a movie is a complete financial disaster or a huge success.

But Chopra would not bow down to Thackeray, saying that if the leader of Shiva's army wanted to cause him trouble, he would leave the country without looking back.

This is related to the recent quiet surge of a so-called "new Exit India movement" in Mumbai.

About fifty pioneers in Mumbai, mainly dancers, actors, diplomats, etc., formed a self-exiled group through the connections of a Parsi barber.

This barber, who oversees some of the city's most renowned heads, invites Chopra and her sister Anu to join the ranks of pioneers.

They were determined to immigrate to Vancouver as a group, so they held a meeting and invited relevant experts to give lectures to explain the process of leaving the country and how to live in MIT.

These people are all wealthy and can easily afford the $200,000 required to obtain a green card from the University of Massachusetts.

This is a typical Mumbai resident's fantasy of exile: they want to leave Mumbai, but also want to take Mumbai with them.

Members of the “New Exit from India Movement” expect to remain in their comfort zone after crossing half the globe, rebuilding Mount Malabar in the more pleasant environment of North America.

In Ron's opinion, these people were just idle, spending their days doing pointless and trivial things.

It turns out that the Indians' occupation of Jama Beach started around this time, and this small group of wealthy people were the earliest collaborators.

It is well known that when Indians appear in a place, a large group of Indians will soon follow.

Their reproduction rate is comparable to that of cockroaches; if left unchecked, they might eventually take over someone else's home.

Pre-production on Chopra's film is complete and filming is about to begin. He has many unexpected guests at his home.

“You know, I went to see Amit Bachchan again later,” he said.

"why?"

"He is, after all, a superstar, which can guarantee the appeal of our film."

Chopra actually tried revising the script once, and then visited Bachchan again late at night with the revised script.

His wife, Jaya Bachchan, who is also an actress, his son, Abhisit, and the family accountant were all present.

Jia Ya is a dignified and elegant woman, and you can still see the delightful charm she displayed when she starred in "Identity" and "Beautiful Pearl".

Chopra and the others sat in the living room for a while, eating snacks and discussing the Starr Report that had just been released, which was American gossip.

Bachchan views the recent bombing of the U.S. embassy in East Africa as a tactic by the U.S. government to divert public attention from the scandals involving the president and Lewinsky.

Chopra once again felt the lingering influence of conspiracy theories on Bachchan, and it was then that he decided not to invite the former superstar again.

Nevertheless, he still seriously discussed the script with Ba Qiang. It was already three o'clock in the morning. He said goodnight to Jia Ya and went upstairs into Ba Qiang's study.

Bachchan praised the revised script, but Chopra sensed that he was exhausted and just wanted to end the meeting as soon as possible.

An hour later, they came 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 had thought they were all asleep. "I don't go to bed until at least 4:30 every day," she replied. "My whole family suffers from insomnia."

The son, Abhisit, and the accountant emerged from the shadows; they hadn't slept either.

Bachchan also came downstairs and sat down at the table where salted snacks were laid out. Jaya then brought over a plate of Rajasthan's specialty desserts.

They seemed well-prepared and could chat for another hour. Chopra quickly said goodbye, leaving this family of night owls in the house.

“He was too obsessed with conspiracy theories and very insistent on the script, so in the end I still chose Sanjay.”

Sanjay, sitting on the sofa, nodded in this direction. He will be playing a police officer in the movie, one of the male leads.

“You’re the director.” Ron shrugged indifferently.

However, he couldn't help but laugh to himself. Sanjay had been arrested as a terrorist before, but now he was going to play a policeman.

This is truly ridiculous, especially since this policeman is going to arrest terrorists from a movie.

“The other main character is Shah Rukh Khan,” Chopra introduced.

He's here today too. By traditional standards of beauty, Cell isn't exactly handsome, but he's intelligent, focused, and full of energy.

He was wearing a black shirt, the buttons undone all the way up to his chest, revealing his smooth, hairless chest. His blue jeans were so long that they covered his sneakers.

Instead of folding them up, he let them drag on the ground and wear down the edges.

Ron and Shah Rukh Khan know each other; they met back when they were on SunTV's "Celebrity Cooking Challenge."

Cell was exceptionally respectful to Ron, not only because of Mr. Sue's identity, but also because Ron had saved his life.

Sometime two years ago, Cell was blackmailed by the mafia, and Ron eventually settled the matter for him.

Hem, the Chopra family's maid and cook, wasn't in the kitchen, so Anu said she would make tea.

Seeing that Chopra and Ron still had something to say, Sharu immediately stood up and said, "No, no, I'll make tea. My tea is delicious."

He then went into the kitchen, quite efficiently.

Wow, no wonder she's a big star, her emotional intelligence is impeccable.

A short while later, the maid, Hem, returned and headed towards the kitchen.

“If he went into the kitchen at this hour, he’d probably have a heart attack,” Chopra laughed.

Hemm indeed went into the kitchen and saw someone pounding cardamom berries to prepare tea. He was very unhappy that this uninvited guest had taken over his work.

He assumed the man was a newly hired servant who was trying to curry favor with his master on his very first day.

It wasn't until Sharu came out carrying a tray that Hem realized everyone was treating him differently than they would a servant, and that's when he realized who the person in the kitchen had been.

Celebrities are not born that way; they become celebrities because of the beautification effect of the camera and the fantasies of their followers.

Shahru is currently one of the most popular celebrities in both India and Pakistan. Indian soldiers recently arrested two Babayang teenagers who attempted to illegally enter India from Kashmir.

They didn't want to infiltrate India to join any organization; they risked their lives to cross the border just to see their idol, Shah Rukh Khan, in Mumbai.

That's the allure of Bollywood stars, radiating across the entire Indian subcontinent.

Compared to the male lead, the choice of the female lead is less important. In action movies, the female lead's role is only slightly more important than the set design.

Chopra has already made contact with the beautiful Tab, who is very attractive.

"Are you going to meet her? You're an investor in the film."

“No, I don’t have time.” Ron shook his head.

He wasn't actually interested in film casting; he came here purely to relax.

Bollywood movies basically choose whoever is currently popular when casting female leads.

They're all just decorative vases anyway, there's no difference.

"When do you plan to turn it on?" he asked.

"There will be snow there at the end of the year."

"That took a really long time," Ron complained.

If he remembers correctly, the script for this movie was started last year.

A year has passed, and the role still hasn't been decided.

In other words, Ron didn't care about the return on investment period for the film. If it were any other investor, they would have been urging Chopra to start filming every day.

"Slow and steady wins the race." The guy laughed heartily.

Ron ignored him, but he did need to inform the military in Kershammir that Chopra would be going to film on location soon.

After having Urmila eat there for free, the two left.

As 98 drew to a close, the aftershocks of the Asian financial crisis seemed to be gradually dissipating.

Ron plans to contact the team in Goa to learn about the operation of the steel plant.

But Aijie called, saying there were some things he needed to do.

(End of this chapter)