A skimpy silhouette to adorn her svelte figure, with
tantalizing kohled eyes and a pop of bright red on her lips, she sets out during
the wee hours of the evening, waving out to the autowala, asking in an anomalous Goan accent, “Baiya, Film City chalega???’’
A mere mention of a 19 year old would conjure up
reflections of an eccentric, cheerful girl wandering in a fairytale. But
Janhavi Sawant, a junior artist in films and television, will lampoon your
notions about a young soul harbouring myriad dreams.
Janhavi, an unambiguous person, possessing ‘in your
face’ attitude, is also an Advertising student in a city college. Like the rest
of her fellow artists, she chose this job out of necessity rather than choice.
“I would’ve never entered such a profession if I had good money with me. I came
to Mumbai for my further studies. I did not want to burden my parents with the
fees and expenses of living in this metro city. I came in contact with few
model co-ordinators through some of my friends and classmates in college, who
then gave me opportunities to work as background artist in TV serials and Ad
films. Recently, I have started working for films too,” she reasons.
A layman would possibly think of this job as an easy
one, where you have to wear scintillating clothes and stand in the crowd,
that’s all! But there’s more to it than meets the eye. A junior artist’s sartorial choices are often
been looked down upon. Describing her over the top clothing and make-up,
Janhavi says, “We have to wear really loud make-up sometimes. People disregard
us for the kind of clothes we wear. But we are helpless as that is part of our
job!”
Even if this wasn’t enough, the profession is marred
by the kind of treatment inflicted on the artists. And the tedious working
hours make the life of a junior artist even more terrible! They need to slog
themselves for almost 12-16 hours a day. Moreover, the unhygienic conditions on
the sets and the unhealthy food served to them make this job a big ‘NO’ for
anyone.
But for a dainty Janhavi, to survive in the city of
dreams, Mumbai, becoming a junior artsist was the only choice left as she has
to manage her college, study as well as earn money. But even after sacrificing
their personal lives, working day and night, they are paid ‘peanuts’.
“I often do not go home, stay up on the sets the
whole night and work till the wee hours of the morning. We have no fixed
schedule. As the requirement arises, they call us at any time of the day. And
there is no way saying ‘NO’ to them as they would dilly-dally in giving us
assignments in the future. Even after so much toil, we have sub-standard
payments as compared to the stars, who are paid a hefty amount. If I work day
and night for a month, at the end, I manage to get only Rs. 25-30,000,” asserts
Janhavi.
Every one of us is aware that things in the
Entertainment industry work in a murkier way.
We must have come across the stressed out lives of our so-called
‘stars’. It’s no different for the junior artists either. Spilling the beans on
her life in this alluring industry, Janhavi reveals, “I stay away from my
family here in Mumbai. They live in Goa. I miss them a lot. Due to my tight
schedule, conversing with them is a rare occasion. When I came here, I used to
feel very lonely and home-sick. But as time heals all wounds, I eventually made
friends here and I am leading a happy life now. But it’s true, people in the
industry don’t befriend you; they rather give a cold shoulder!”
As a popular saying goes, ‘There are two sides of a
coin’; in a similar fashion, this industry has given Janhavi moments to merry
about. Recalling one of them, she says, “One of the lead actors of a popular TV
serial complimented me by saying that I look like Hollywood actor ‘Sandra
Bullock’. I went head over heels on hearing the comment.”
One of the popular fads in the industry today is the
‘size zero’ figure. Every other woman in the showbiz flaunts a tiny frame and a
dented face. On asking Janhavi, that how
this trend affects her as a junior artist, she says, “The fervour has passed on
us too and I am already feeling the heat. The production houses select us on
the basis of our physique. And the industry is crazy about skinny girls.
Recently, for a Yash raj movie, they strictly wanted girls with a zero figure.
I was lucky to get that that assignment as I am petite. But for the same, I
have to starve sometimes, follow a particular diet, workout hard and maintain
my figure.”
Crime against women in the city has increased on a
staggering rate. Janhavi, who usually commutes late in night, fears for her
life due to the crime rate. “I have to go to different places for my
assignments. But mostly, the shoots are in the Film City or Madh Island. Film
City, I must tell you, is much safer than Madh Island. Post 12 or 12:30 in the
night, it is very difficult to find a transport facility. We get autos in the
Film City but it is not easy to find one in Madh Island. But fortunately, we
seldom get pick-up and drop services from the production houses. I haven’t yet
come across any kind of eve teasing or other crimes. But I do live in the
shadows of fear created by some men in the society, says Janhavi.
However tiresome, monotonous, awful her job may be,
Janhavi isn’t surely cribbing. She enjoys every split second of it, living and
loving the way it has come to her and evolving daily by leaps and bounds.
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