Bimal meet his mentor Goswami Sir before boarding the train to Mumbai with Nandani ,” Bless you Bimal , you must meet my old acquaintance Jagan Bhai he is a big shot in Bollywood , he is a cor dilators helps director hire the right actors , doubles , stunt man and dancers . He will guide you as it is now you dance sing and act like the original , be safe and save money you might need it in bad times .” Goswami da gave his advice .The home front was taken care of Bimal mother would run the Muri stall and his one sister would stay back to help in the house . Bimal and Nandini would travel to Mumbai to full fill their dream and bring home some riches to others in the family too .
The train ride was long and arduous Nandani had cups of tea and chips through out the trip , the train finally landed at Mumbai central as the two siblings got out of the station a huge hoarding showing Mihtun holding a machine Gun with blood on his shirt stared at them it was the poster of his big hit Shatranj .” See Mithun Bhai is king of Mumbai .” Bimal shouted as the two boreded a Rickshaw for Andheri , they had to meet Jagan Bhai who had arranged a small room for them to stay . The office was on the third floor of an under construction building .” Come come come in Jagan Bhai invited the two in his office , which was smaller then a toilet , with one phone two chairs and a table .Their was calendar of Durga on the wall and wash basin to the right . The desk was full of filmy magazines , he had lots scraps of paper lying around , maybe some movie idea he was thinking about ,” Yes Goswami sir told me about you , you are a Mihtun clone , mean a hamshakal , you also dance like him , come get up let me see how you dance .” Jagan insisted , hesitantly Bimal got up and cleared his throat and started singing “ Dance dance dance dance is life , life id dance .” With this tune he moved his legs like Mithun he had the same lean and long legs and being much younger than the old man he had a narrow waist too .” Yes yes that is it .” Jagan Bhai got out from behind his desk and switched on the TV , their was Mithun dancing with Mandakini to the tune of Dance Dance Dance .
The kids playing cricket on the basement ran up the stairs to see the free show , they gathered around the windows as Bimal did his gig .’ Good good I am sure you will get work , at least of a good duplicate or a double to Mithun da , but you need to learn fighting karate , shooting Guns and horse riding Mithun does all this in his films . I will send you to Vindu Ji he is great fight master he will train you , he will take a fee but not much . I assure you will be a great asset for me after all you are my commission Bimal .’ Jagan Bhai laughed and stretched forward to grab a pan from a moist packet lying in-front of him , he was sure to make a killing selling Bimal to the dream world and vice versa .
Bimal stayed in a small room with Nandani in a old building in Andheri east this is was cheaper area but he had to take the bus every day for his action and stunts trainer Vindu Bhai who lived in Khar area .” Nanadani salla life mean kabuki fight nah kaya , I cant fight a fly , how ill I learn karate .” Nandani tried to cheer him ,” Self defence dada you never know when it can come in handy , so just go for it . So their was Bimal learning Karate and the art of Kung Fu from Vindu sir . Vindu sir looked like a wrestler straight out of the film Dangal , he was six feet plus muscular with a huge mooch ,” Again fight is about concentration the more alert you are the more you focus the more impactful your blows will be , start eating Goat and Sheep meat you Bengali’s are too frail all you eat is fish , if you want to fight eat red meat you need protein and it will help your break dance also .” Vindu Bhai did his duty as an instructor . Bimal was tired , he was hungry apart from samosa on the station he had had no meal . Vindu Bhai took him to the near tea stall .’ I know son you are new to the city and you want to follow the foot step of Mithun da but have you heard of his struggles , he went hungry for months slept on pavements , did stage shows sang in dance bars , before he got a chance to become Helens assistant for a Cabaret number she was doing .But he kept his dance alive and finally made it . “ Vindu explained a piece of history to Bimal . “ He was also a Naxal and they say he killed a few people during the struggle in Bengal , but they have no proof , he was very hot headed , the death of his brother changed his life .It was then he handed for Bollywood .” I added my two bit of Knowledge to Jagan’s banter .” Kasam Peda karne wale ki , Dance Dance , Yamraj , Watan ke Rakhwale he gave so many front bencher hits , all low budget films but he made money always , very sharp business man ran a huge hotel in Otty for years . You see sky is the limit even for you as his clone , see how far you go .” Bimal gave him a bun omelette ,” Have this and buy some juice you look starved .”
Bimal would often walk back quite a distance before he boarded the bus . He wanted the feel of the city today especially at nights . The Juhu Beach all light up with Chat and Tikki stall , Kulfi Flooda and Chocolate Pan , this place would be teaming with people .Kids begging their folks to buy them a ballon or get them to ride a horse .The walls and hoardings filled with up coming films , he would soften go to watch a film in Galaxy in Bandra , it still gave him the feel of Cinema the old fashioned way . Today he was watching Bagawat Ek Jung , the movie transported him to his world of dreams , he had the usual Campa cola with pop corns and trigged back to his dingy one bed set , to find Nandani fast a sleep. This was to be his life from home to Jagan Bhai’s office then to the studio’s from Mehboob Studio to Film City he had started getting small dancing and singing parts as a Mithun clone in many B grade films .He had even perfected a new dance number from the super hit Kasam Peda karnewale ki . He was also a big hit in his own biradari of duplicates . He friends with Salman’s Duplicate , Duplicate Rajesh Khanna , Duplicate Asrani and so many more .
They would do mimicry after every lunch session the Deva Anand duplicate by the name of Imran Bhai would dance to the songs of Guide and throw his muffler around the place , he also had the Dev Anand Cap and he would toss it about just like the Maestro ,” He is a legend yaar ! Dev sahib what movie jewel thief it was after watching that I decided to become his duplicate and try and ape him .” Imran felt proud of his talent .They even had a lady impersonate Basanti the famous Hema Malini character from Sholay .It was a motley crew of small town talented upstarts who specialised in imitating their Bollywood idols . Sameer who dis the Salman Khan get up was so devoted to his Bhai that he even had a poster of the man from Mine Pyaar Kiya in his Poja ghar .After tea break they would play Antakshri with each other and then collect their day wages for the day and head home .
Mithun da was everywhere in my world I use to see his Dance Dance number blaring from Mico Phones being carried by temp’s and cycle rickshaws to help in political campaigns also . As I said in India entertainment is everything , song and dance is in our blood and Mithun da was the Baap of Entertainment . I had very big shoes to fill .I was getting a bit tired doing bit side roles and duplicate fight scenes in films .I wanted to act with my master one day . Be with Mithun da himself in his movie as his fight and dance double , now that would be a treat . I would be the pride of Park street Bimal the local lad made good , a true success only if I could get to work side by Sid with him . My father would br so proud of me and why not it was not an impossible dream , after all I had come so far from the streets of Calcutta to the heart of the film world , I had the talent and I had practised my performances .They were still a bit crude but being poor I did not have the money for the right clothes make up and equipment , even then my live performances where much appreciated and I had learnt a lot for my other Duplicate friends how they better themselves each day .
My missio n was simple add more and more acts to my performance and make Mithun da ooze out of my performance so that no one knew who the real Mithun was and who was the duplicate .Bimal ahd his plan chalked out , success to him would only happen if he gets to act with the big man it was simple and to help him achieve that he would need a lot of help form Jagan Bhai . Jagan Bhai ahd the contacts to paint him in a Mithun Film and he also had the word from the inside .
Bimal had to make an ally of Jagan and he had the perfect honey trap his own sister Nandani .
