Dream Sequence

This self-confessed ‘‘party girl’’ has a hectic schedule. Ten shindigs a week, fashion shoots, meetings with Bollywood’s A-list and spending quality time with her Swedish boyfriend. And though her electronics baron dad has provided her with a Honda City and a spacious 3BHK in central Mumbai, Mayani is slumming it in her own way.

‘‘I don’t mind living with cockroaches, breathing polluted air or dying in the Mumbai traffic. It’s a small price to pay for my lifelong dream to come true,’’ she says.

And the results are showing. She’s notched up Gadar director Anil Sharma’s brother Sanjay’s forthcoming film.

Ex-Miss Afghanistan, Vida Samadzai, gave up her father’s BMW and a cushy job in a California-based mortgage company to ‘‘move around in Mumbai rickshaws’’.

Bollywood’s not such a hard nut to crack. After all, death threats from fundamentalists didn’t deter the grey-eyed beauty from becoming the first Afghan woman in 31 years to participate in an international beauty pageant. Since 2003’s Miss Earth contest, she’s been involved in numerous fund-raising initiatives for her country.

But Bollywood is the ultimate magnet. ‘‘They say love is blind. My passion for India and Hindi films is blind,’’ she says.

Samadzai is what you call an intelligent investor. She’s done a thorough recce and knows that Sajid Nadiadwala and Feroze Nadiadwala are two separate film entities. And that minuscule roles like Rahul Rawail’s Jo Bole So Nihaal and ‘‘random item numbers’’ should be nixed immediately.

Currently she’s negotiating a movie deal with Yash Raj Films. All meetings are routed through her team, which comprises an assistant, a manager and a publicist. ‘‘I just don’t want to take any chances. I don’t know why people here don’t get the point. They tell me that even Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan don’t have a manager, so what’s my problem?’’ she recounts.

The recent rape of the 27-year-old South African woman who harboured Bollywood aspirations, has just made Samadzai’s resolve stronger. It is believed that the victim went to the suburban Avalon bar—from where she was allegedly kidnapped—to meet an agent who promised her a film assignment. That’s something Samadzai wouldn’t do. ‘‘I never meet anyone without my manager and always go to parties with a male friend. You’ve got to take care of yourself,’’ says the beauty queen.

If you thought only impoverished small-towners came to Bollywood to pursue what is India’s most popular dream sequence, you haven’t met the new breed. They’re well connected, well off and well educated. Most of them haven’t even seen Andheri station, so forget travelling in a local train. ‘‘I’m not like those girls from Delhi who will send their pictures to each and every Bollywood type. I want to work with the best and don’t mind waiting,’’ says Mayani.

Khursheed Khurody, who’s booked a place in history as the first woman to pucker up (twice) with Dev Anand in Mr Prime Minister, is quite media-savvy. The one-film actor—if you discount her nanosecond appearance in Black—has an impressive two-page CV listing her accomplishments as a trained ballerina, pianist and a Masters in South Asian Studies from Harvard University. ‘‘India has seen the heyday of film stars who were not quite erudite, but now things are changing,’’ she says.

While Navketan discovery Khurody didn’t get the full pre-release publicity treatment (remember Zeenat Aman and Tina Munim), she’s confident of making an impression. ‘‘I’m very achievement oriented and really couldn’t care less about dancing with a superstar. I know my career will build slowly and steadily,’’ she says.

While she awaits her turn, she’s busy giving piano lessons to children and playing Brahms for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, during the shooting of Black. Her father is a top executive in Voltas and the kind who sent Dev saab a written critique of his latest movie. On her radar are film-makers from the other side: Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ashvin Kumar, Shyam Benegal, Thigmanshu Dhulia and Nagesh Kukunoor.

Nibbling on guava in her luxurious south Mumbai apartment, Khurody lists the latest additions to her DVD collection: Uski Roti, Kabuliwalla and Parineeta. ‘‘If I could do a film like Kirron Kher’s Khamosh Pani, I would give this country my blood,’’ she declares.

Former Miss India New York and Miss India USA, Stuti Gupta, would rather opt for Ram Gopal Varma and David Dhawan over Yash Chopra and Karan Johar. The face of last December’s Asian Spa magazine, Gupta ditched medical school in New York to give Tinseltown a shot. ‘‘I’m not a hard-core struggler. I was always interested in Mumbai’s glamour industry, so decided to take time off and see how it goes,’’ she says over the phone from Bangkok where she’s vacationing with her doctor father, electronics engineer mother and younger sister, who is studying medicine.

Gupta has a bit role in the forthcoming Sohail Khan-starrer Aryan. Though this isn’t exactly the debut she was looking for, she’s readying for the big time. Farah Khan’s assistant is training her for ‘‘the Beyonce-Britney Spears style of booty shaking jhatkas’’ that Bollywood is partial to. Hindi and Urdu lessons are supervised by Vidhurji, a teacher at Kishore Namit Kapoor’s Acting School.

Mastering Hindi is a major requirement. That’s the advice Salman Khan gave fellow Pathan Samadzai, who has already perfected her ‘‘Main thoda thoda Hindi bol sakti hoon.’’ Mayani has given herself four months. ‘‘Ramu (Varma) told me to learn Hindi and meet him. I’ll be calling him soon,’’ she laughs.

For the most part, Bollywood has been very encouraging to these newbies. Saif Ali Khan told Mayani quite bluntly that having an affair with big stars never helps. Other than language gyan, Salman spelt out the guiding rule of stardom to Samadzai: Persistence. Bhansali told Khurody to wait for the unusual.

Tips like these from the best in the business come from rounds of networking. If there is one networking rule they always adhere to, it’s: Never make a stag entry at a gathering.

Mayani goes with a band of five friends. As a precaution, she even takes her driver for auditions. Gupta checks up the antecedents of the host before making an appearance. ‘‘Honestly, I don’t think going to Page 3 parties really helps. I mean, I don’t want to be known for that. But I do it because the line demands it,’’ she says.

But you can’t take a promise made in a noisy party to heart. Ask Mayani. She’s still wondering why Zayed Khan didn’t keep his word. ‘‘I met Zayed for the first time at Velocity (a south Mumbai disco) some three years ago. After Dus Bahane, I bumped into him at Enigma (a club at the JW Marriott hotel). He took my number, but never called. And then I heard that he got married. Isn’t that strange?” she shakes her head.

Samadzai isn’t comfortable giving out her cellphone number. She’s also not comfortable wearing stringy tank tops on the roads. ‘‘Certain men look at you differently. The general perception is that because you’re not from here, you come with an ‘easy’ tag. They might not comment but the eyes say a lot,’’ she says. She has had a couple of unsavoury experiences: A VIP’s son who discussed birth control on their first date and a proposition from a much-married tycoon.

Gupta is aware of the casting couch. ‘‘I’ve seen it happen but I don’t give that vibe. I want to be a Bollywood star, but I’m not willing to compromise. I know I can do other things in life,’’ she says.

But there are some people who are totally committed to Cause Bollywood. Like Samadzai who refused the role of emcee for the upcoming jazz festival in Jamaica featuring Alicia Keys and Usher. ‘‘It’ll take me away from my goal,’’ she reasons.

Her dedication is infectious for 21-year-old Mishka Singh. The Durban-based journalism student met Samadzai over breakfast at Taj Land’s End. Just a couple of hours into their interaction, and Singh is already asking Samadzai for all the inside dope and networking channels. ‘‘I’d love to do an item number. Aishwarya Rai is my model. It’s my childhood dream to be a Bollywood star,’’ she says.

Samadzai’s advice to her: ‘‘Tell your dad to buy property in Mumbai. It’ll make your life easier. Tell him to hurry since after January 16, prices are going to rise.’’