Actor and filmmaker Puneet Sikka comes out with a smoke-and-mirrors story decked in acerbic humour and grief. ‘Take No. 2020’ (published by Penguin India) is a story within a story about four migrant actors looking to find their feet in Bollywood till they are presented with a real-life plot twist. A hybrid of pop culture and realism that combines her lived experience within the entertainment industry and her passion for writing Sikka’s book is very visual as it is also a reminder of the stark naked truth of the world of glitz.

Four Bollywood aspirants – Meera, Dabloo, Jayesh, and Micky Taneja – navigate love, loss, and redemption. Their paths collide, forcing them to confront broken relationships, past demons, and the blurred lines between heroism and villainy. As they face real-life drama, each must confront: are they hero or villain?

Meera has just landed her first big Bollywood film after years of struggling, loneliness and despair. For Dabloo, who is fighting to make ends meet, this year has brought both the lowest and highest points of his career.

Aspiring TikTok star Jayesh, unlucky in love and films, might just discover his métier the hard way. Embroiled in #MeToo allegations, the puppet master of the casting couch, Micky Taneja, might be able to find his true love and work again.

As the paths of these strugglers collide, broken relationships give way to unexpected ones, projects are found and lost, and repressed pasts resurface in their shiny new lives. In the face of a real-life climax, each is forced to reckon if they're the hero or villain of their own story.

Puneet Sikka is an actress and media professional who has worked in theatre, TV & digital commercials, short films, and a feature film. This is her debut novel.

Here is an excerpt from the novel:

Take #1
Once Upon a Take
December 2017 B.C. [Before Covid-19], Chennai

Meera was at her desk when she received the offer to audition in Mumbai for a face wash ad. The brand was launching a national campaign with top Bollywood actress and brand ambassador Sakshi Rai.

The prospect of appearing on television commercials, billboards and magazine pages dazzled Meera. It was a dream she was determined not to give up for a dull salaried job.

She was so confident she’d be chosen that she began planning the next five years keeping it in mind.

She almost dialled her agency to confirm the audition but decided to think it over again. Would she be able to live away from Patti [Paternal grandmother], who was the very embodiment of home for her? She was the only family Meera had, the one who had raised her with so much love and care. Meera had struggled with the idea of flying the nest. She had heard stories about young people being gripped by loneliness in big cities like Mumbai, whereas with Patti, there was seldom a dull moment. Sunday evenings were for taking in a play or dance recital, or for an early evening picnic at the beach (the days were unbearably hot), learning how to sew or cook, and, more recently, ambling at Phoenix Marketcity Mall.

Of course, there were times when being with Patti was sheer embarrassment—like when she would break into song as she haggled with the vegetable vendor. Meera would wince and avoid the stares of curious onlookers lest she seem to be with the cuckoo lady. Even so, she couldn’t imagine life without Patti.

Then there was Raghu. Her heart ached at the thought of leaving him behind. It had been a glorious seven months of dating him. He seemed like the perfect life partner. Would he consider quitting his corporate job in Chennai and finding one in Mumbai instead so they could move in together? She could pay the bills till he found suitable work. As per her calculations, her fee from this ad would allow her to live in Mumbai for two or three months while visibility from this campaign would open doors for her in the movies. Within no time, she would be inundated with roles, money and more opportunities. Then she, Raghu and Patti could all live together as one happy family.

Had her duties not pulled her away, Meera would have continued building castles in the air. On most days, she punched the keyboard listlessly as she checked routine tasks off her list, till it dawned on her that she had spent her life drifting like a log of wood on a gentle stream. She had switched jobs three times in the last six years; it’s as if changing the workplace gave her a sense of movement, and consequently, progress. But she was only going in circles like a hamster on a wheel. The only constant through the years had been her desire to become a full-time actor.

Why had she never acted on her acting dream? True, she had signed up with the first agency she’d found, but if acting was where her heart was, she had to make a definitive choice—either maintain the status quo in Chennai with her job and the talent agency or move to Mumbai and start afresh, focusing only on auditions and acting workshops.

Her annual contract with the agency was up for renewal, which was probably what had spurred them into action. They had a lock-in period of six months, after which she could discontinue the relationship if she so wished. And wish it she did. She had come very close to terminating the agreement on two previous occasions. So, when she rapped the agency on its knuckles, they came up with this audition, and pursuing it felt like the obvious choice to make. Besides, she could always figure out her next steps in Mumbai.

Meera phoned the talent agency to confirm the audition. Hope bloomed inside of her but a cloud of scepticism also appeared. Then she thought, it was, after all, only an audition. If it didn’t work out, she could always return and pick up from where she had left off. Surely she’d find a company elsewhere looking to fill a vacancy in human resources, if not the same as the one she was currently at. She wanted to avoid dwelling on the downside of a failed attempt in Mumbai lest it make her pessimistic and keep her stuck in the rut.

* * *

2018 B.C., Mumbai

The waiting room is abuzz with gossip about Sakshi Rai and her faux pas at a recent talk show. Riding on the success of her fifth consecutive super-hit film, she had ridiculed a rival’s unflattering body shape.

‘No wonder this campaign about body positivity was cooked up within a month of the controversy.

Why do you think the brand suddenly wants dusky, chubby, curly-haired women flanking Sakshi?’ a model says in low tones.

‘It’s all a whitewash campaign, meant to make Sakshi look more inclusive and to offset the beating her brand image has taken owing to the backlash in the media. Ironically, the duskier you are, the better,’ another one adds.

‘I even applied extra bronzer to look the part!’ confesses a third.

The trio chuckle as they scan the models streaming in through the front door, until one of them says, ‘This could take all day. I don’t want to miss my audition at Mickey Taneja’s studio later today because I’m waiting for my turn here. It’s not every day that one gets a call from his casting office, and that too for a primary character. Another hour, tops, and I’m out of here.’ Someone scurries out of the studio and thunders, ‘Silence! There is an audition in progress.’

[The excerpt reproduced with the permission of the publishers.]