MAUKA IN A NUTSHELL
Mauka is a story about how hard and how far one can go to achieve one’s most cherished aim. Not for the sake of the aim but for the sake of true love.
Our story is about Arya, your average boy-next-door. He is a genuine and honest boy brought up well by his parents. The one thing that sets him apart from his contemporaries is his sense of morality. He has a genuine talent for acting and has always been encouraged by his father, RK who himself harboured dreams of becoming a playback singer in his youth. Arya’s mother Sarla is an adorable and lovable mother who dotes on her son. Arya is in love with Niyati, a pretty and talented young girl. They both hope to end up with each other some day.
The only problem is Niyati’s father, Mohanji who is considered one of the biggest success stories of Lucknow. In Mohanji’s opinion, Arya and his band of friends who keep acting in plays all day long, are simply wasting away their lives. He feels very strongly about this and this belief of his is the major cause of friction between Niyati and him. It is his daughter Niharika and his wife, Tara, who always end up bearing the brunt of this conflict.
Arya and Niyati’s life is progressing smoothly despite the various road-blocks placed in their path until the Challenge! Mohanji is eager to marry Niyati off to someone else when Arya asks him for the time of a year to become an actor of repute. Thinking he has nothing to lose, Mohanji agrees hoping Arya fails.
Thus begins Arya’s journey of trying to make it in the big bad world of the Hindi film industry.Arya sets off for Bombay by eschewing his cherished dream of going to FTII Pune. Here in the city, he learns a lot of lessons and pays a heavy price for being so naïve. He places his trust in the wrong people sometimes, life teaches him the meaning of struggle quite brutally at times. There are plenty of times when it seems like his faith in humanity and it’s goodness is misplaced. Especially like the time he faces the casting couch in the most obnoxious way. But Arya’s goodness carries him through somehow always.
Things take a turn for the better when he begins tutoring Shikha Roy, the biggest superstar of our times. Or do they? Shikha is a spoilt brat who has shown her true colours to Arya in a very unpleasant encounter in Lucknow. Arya has no illusions about her and is not starstruck. Perhaps that is why when the time comes, he does not shy away from expressing to Shikha what he truly thinks of her and her opportunistic boyfriend. Even for Shikha, whose every move is praised to the skies by all her sycophants, finds Arya to be a breath of fresh air. With Arya’s help, she gets her life and priorities on track and eventually helps Arya make a mark in this cut-throat world. She secretly ends up falling in love with him too.
Niyati, the ever supportive girlfriend and an accomplished business woman in her own right is always supportive of Arya and his work relationship with Shikha.
Things get out of hand when Arya and Shikha’s proximity crosses the norms laid down by society. Arya sleeps with Shikha. Does true love really overcome all obstacles? Will Arya find his way back to Niyati? Will Shikha set out to destroy Arya because she is spurned? And will Niyati, the epitome of love and understanding, be able to get over this blow? There’s only one way to find out!MAUKA.