High Noon. Saturday at Mehboob Studio: Karisma Kapoor is dressed to the hilt in a dark gray silk saree with a stunning gold border, her hair neatly tied in a bun. A trendy bindi and an imposing mangalsutra complete the shuddh Bharatiya nari look, or, in David Dhawan parlance, the Biwi No 1 get-up.Her reel-life hubby Salman Khan, and the Director No 1, are conspicuous by their absence. Instead, looming larger than life, in a set next door, is artist M F Husain - relentlessly canning his ode to Madhuri Dixit, Gaja Gamini.Back on the Biwi No 1 set, producer Vashu Bhagnani sits around chatting up a select audience, while Southern cinematographer Muttu lights up what's supposed to be a stage for a school Parents' Day function - there's a massive portrait of Sai Baba in the background, another, smaller photograph of Mother Teresa in one corner, and traditional lamps all over.Nearly two dozen school kids in red and white uniforms wait patiently for something tohappen. As do Shahrukh and Karishma - no, not Khan and Kapoor - the kids who play Karisma and Salman's screen babies."We're picturising a song which is the turning point of the film. Salman, who's married to Karisma falls for Sushmita Sen in the third reel. The rest of the film has Karisma wooing her husband back with some help from his friend played by Anil Kapoor. It's a woman-oriented subject." informs Bhagnani, who's also managed to rope in Tabu and Saif Ali Khan for this multi-starrer.1:00 pm outside the set: A silver-gray Tata Safari pulls up and David Dhawan's familiar frame steps out. He proceeds to the set, talks to choreographer B S Tharun Kumar, writer Rumi Jaffery and finally producer Bhagnani.It's time for lunch.2:30 pm on the lawns outside the set: Dhawan is engrossed in a serious dialogue with another producer, Ketan Desai - the two are doing their second film together. Karisma has long disappeared from the scene - she's still waiting for Salman to arrive, this time in hermake-up room.3:00 pm: The star is here. He's wearing black trousers and a tan-coloured sleeveless coatie which displays his formidable physique to ample advantage. He's accompanied by ace photographer Avinash Gowarikar, who promptly gets to work and sets up a shot at one end of the lawn. Then, Salman takes off his coatie, slaps on make-up and immediately starts posing with a Thums Up bottle in hand - presumably for the ad campaign he's recently done.3.30 pm. On set no 2: Finally, the shot is ready. The tiny-tots are given a candle each and made to kneel in two neat rows. In the foreground, Shahrukh and Karishma hug each other tightly, while Karisma dabs her eyes with glycerine for an emotional bout. Tharun Kumar yells out for silence, and the camera rolls. Karisma runs into the frame and starts hugging her children - all of them sobbing convincingly - singing, "Mujhe maaf karna oum Sai Ram/Tujhse pehle loongi apne bachchon ka naam." The shot is okayed in two takes.4.00 pm.Outside the set: Salman has finished his photo-shoot. He joins Karisma, Dhawan and Desai for a chat, while unit hands get to work on the next shot. Another day, another take.
