Break free for a rejuvenating getaway

April holds the dubious distinction of being the cruellest month, but we natives of the tropics know that May doesn���t fare any better.
However, the sudden showers, even though for a brief spell, have made it just the right time for a summer holiday (the kind Sir Cliff Richard recommended). But a break from the heat and dust of daily life, literally, seems as illusory as the stuff fantasies are made of.So, like the mermaid ��� that creature of the deep seas which can wash away all its world weariness with one plunge into the ocean waves ��� there are quite a few people wishing for that rejuvenating getaway, if only for a brief while.
Ask Tollywood���s busiest stars when they last went on a holiday, and the response is a lengthy pause. Actor Rudranil Ghosh cannot even remember where or when that vacation happened! ���I am a workaholic and just can���t seem to take time out for myself! I have been shooting in places like Bolpur and Durgapur, where the average temperature was 46��C. The shoots lasted from 5 in the morning to 6 in the evening, and the only time there was an umbrella keeping the blazing sun at bay, was lunch. I really want to go to the hills, some place where there won���t be any Bengali viewers reminding me of work, because for me, getting a break from work doesn���t simply mean not getting to hear ���action��� and ���cut���.���
Actor Debleena Dutta���s wish-list is somewhat similar. ���A change would do me good now. I���m thinking on the lines of the cool climes of some hill station, but there���s no respite in sight just yet! There���s no time to even plan a holiday now. I can���t just leave my work and take off, because I could never let the telecast of a show get interrupted, even at the cost of my health.��� Another busy bee, Parno Mitra, adds, ���I work about nine to 10 hours a day, and had planned to visit Sikkim or Darjeeling just to recharge my batteries. It didn���t work out, but I���ll see to it that I get there, even if it is only for a couple of days.���
As for clubbing work and leisure, it���s easier said than done. ���The work pressure is more intense during outdoor shoots because of budget constraints. Kintu ei gorome, kono thanda jaygaye outdoor holey mondo hoyna!��� says Debleena.
Rudranil, who was looking forward to a hilly outing in Anjan Dutt���s Byomkesh film, quips, ���In all his films, there is some connection with Darjeeling. Except Byomkesh. Ki korbo bolo, kopale nei!��� For super busy director Haranath Chakraborty too, getting fatalistic is the only option. ���The last family holiday I took was six years ago, but I can���t remember where it was. My problem is that my children���s summer vacations don���t match the period I am comparatively free. Besides, I have to depend on when actors allot dates. I���m lucky that my wife has never cribbed about my schedule. However, during Durga Puja, it���s family first. I don���t shoot at all during that time.���
With a daily schedule spanning 14 hours, composer Jeet Gannguli, can���t even afford that. ���Even when I am home in Kolkata, there are sittings, which I record when I come back to Mumbai. Just the other day, Shaan and I were discussing that we should record the music for our album somewhere outside Mumbai, like Lonavala or Khandala. You know, each time my wife tells her colleagues that the two of us are going on a holiday, they joke, saying, ���We���ll see!��� I don���t blame them, because I can���t remember the last time we enjoyed a vacation. How I wish we could just fly off to Nainital!���
Well, here���s hoping that elusive mermaid comes splashing by, turning all that wishful thinking into actual holiday itineraries, while the heat is still on!