Dehradun, May 11 -- Author.

'Lights?'

'Sound rolling?

'Camera? '

'ACTION'

We have not strayed onto a film set. It is a very old hotel, where the room boys, waiters, cooks and bellboys are cleaning out the rooms, calling to each other in the manner of the Director, Honey Irani. She had long since gone, having wrapped up the shooting of Armaan with the Big B the week before. In her wake, she has left behind a legacy stuck like the hill mist that lingers on. Having packed up, she was back in Mumbai.

Wiry Lashkari, a waiter with a quick smile, tosses a threadbare carpet across the passage. Mohan, the kitchen boy, grabs one end and lets out a whoop. At the same time, Chatter Singh Negi, who had known this place for half a century, calls ...