Star-Dome

"It's a wrap!"

Nandini heaved a sigh of relief. At last, she could wash off the thick make-up. Oh, for her pores to be free to sweat profusely!

It was as she was steaming her face that the knock came on her dressing room door.

"Go away, I'm tired," Nandini yelled.

The door opened slowly.

"I said Go Away," Nandini snapped.

"I'm sorry, Ma'm, but please ..."

"How on earth did you get in here? Wasn't there a security guard?"

"I sneaked in disguised as a pizza delivery man. Your co-stars have ordered pizza."

"Now you can go out disguised as a strawberry milkshake vendor or anything else, just leave.'

"Please, Ma'm, listen to me ..."

Nandini looked him over. Not bad looking - tallish, blondish, thinnish, twenty-sixish. Wearing an old fashioned suit and tie. In spite of herself, she was interested.

"I shouldn't allow it, but all right. Sit down if you can find a chair and tell me what you're about while I keep steaming my face."

"Ma'm, I wonder if you know what an epic role you're doing in a movie that's going to be a blockbuster," the young man said.

"Well, it's the first role I've ever done. I mean, I was the lead in the high school play last year and all, but in films ..."

"Exactly. Which means you are very young and on the brink of stardom."

"Thank you for saying so."

"Pardon me, Ma'm but it wasn't a compliment."

"What? Listen, you come in here and insult me? I am calling security."

"Wait, wait. What I meant was ..."

"You have thirty seconds to redeem yourself or else ..."

"Have you followed the lives of other young stars as they grew older? Struggles with identity, with addiction, with relationships. Struggles getting other roles because they were typecast ..."

"Price of fame I guess," she shrugged as she wiped the steam off her face with a soft towel. "What are you getting at?"

"This."

The young man pulled a can out of his inner pocket and waved it at her. She grabbed it and looked closely at the label.

"STAR-DOME?"

"Star-Dome," he replied, a touch of pride in his voice. "I've developed it myself. It's for those who, like yourself, are on the brink of becoming very famous very young."

"So we have to spray something out of a can?"

"Not just anything. Star-Dome. It puts a dome around your personality. It protects you from low self-esteem by stopping your esteem from evaporating. And - a bonus - it prevents you from being typecast by preserving your original nature regardless of the role you play."

"All this out of a can?" Nandini asked.

"Not just any can, a can of Star-Dome. And I'm offering you the chance to promote it, so that your career as an actress can coincide with your career as a model and prevent you from being typecast already."

"Listen, this thing can't work."

"It has worked for me!"

"Worked for you? How do you mean?"

"Have you seen Taare Zameen Par?"

"Hasn't everybody?"

"Well, I was one of the kids in the climactic scene."

Nandini threw back her head and laughed. "Listen, there were three hundred and fifty kids in that scene."

"I know, but the camera panned on my face twice, while Aamir was searching for Ishan. But did the fame go to my head? Is my self-esteem low? Not a bit of it. I invented Star-Dome and sprayed it on, and this is what you see!"

"And you want me to help promote this?"

"Sure. Star-Dome is going to become the brand to reckon with in the next decade, and child stars who grow up will bless you for the real-life role you've played in their lives."

There was a knock at the door. "Miss Nandini?" a voice called.

"Who is it?"

"The press reporter is here to see you. And the TV interviewers. Are you ready for them?"

"Sure, as soon as I've sprayed on some self-esteem!"