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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Davies" data-source="post: 8138717" data-attributes="member: 30538">Sangeet ("Musical Interlude")<img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/i-hbPGkGh/1/1e295104/M/bollywood-dance-M.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />One of the things that the cinema of the Indian subcontinent is best known for is the frequency with which their films include song and dance numbers. Even gritty crime dramas have included scenes where one of the characters dreams themselves into a scene like this, where they sing about how happy life would be if they were successful in love. They are quite popular with the audience, who often sing along with them. But not everyone in India is all that happy with this aspect of their film industry.Ranjeet Sangha was a film critic with one of Mumbai's larger papers, as well as a published author and blogger. And he absolutely hated song and dance numbers. He felt that they had long since reached a point where they were nothing but clichés that were presenting a ridiculous image of Indian culture to an increasingly international audience, that they slowed down the films' plots and added nothing of substance, and that most of them were poorly sung and choreographed. He was not shy about expressing these views.It has been said that every critic is a frustrated artist. Sangha had certainly had aspirations to work more directly in the film industry, but these had come to naught, something that always annoyed him. So when a director he had lambasted in the press contacted him, laughingly admitting that he'd made some good points in his most recent article, and offered him the opportunity to act as an assistant director on his current film for a few days, Sangha let his aspirations overrule his suspicion.He showed up at the set, chatted with the director, and then took the chair to watch the rehearsal. Only then did he realize that he'd been asked to direct a song and dance number. He'd been had! Everyone was snickering up their sleeves at him. Outraged, he nonetheless decided to make the best of the situation and not go storming off like some petulant child. He watched the scene preparations with a terrible scowl, and when the time came for the cameras to roll, he gritted his teeth for a full minute before giving the order to start the film rolling.And then something strange happened. The music that played was not what had been playing in rehearsal, and everyone on the set, not just the actors, started doing a dance utterly unlike that they'd rehearsed, singing all the while about how much song and dance numbers were really terrible and how ashamed they felt to be doing what they were doing. At first Sangha thought that this was some elaboration on the joke that had been sprung on him, but then he saw the obvious confusion and bewilderment on their faces, and realized they didn't know what was going on. The realization came suddenly -- he was doing this. He was controlling the action far more directly than any director ever had, and they were expressing his thoughts.The power went to his head immediately. He made them all dance until they collapsed of exhaustion, then laughed his head off. One studio staffer who'd been lucky enough to be outside the area of his influence managed to call the police, but Sangha was long gone by the time that they arrived. He knew that he could never go back to his old life, but didn't care. He'd found a new calling in life, to directly demonstrate the silliness and inanity of song and dance numbers by showing people what they were really like, and in the process enrich himself.Normally, संगीत (Sangeet) works with a crew of hired criminals who go masked, unlike him, and also wear sound mufflers. He activates his power, often in public areas, and his associates proceed to move among the dancing people, pocketing their wallets and valuables while they're too focused on singing and dancing to stop them. On rarer occasions, they use the routines as distractions to commit burglaries, and on a few have kidnapped victims of the song and dance to hold them for ransom. Sangeet isn't a particularly violent criminal, though, and is actually something of a Robin Hood figure in India, often donating a portion of his takings to charity. However, he's also associated with the Indian branch of Hadron's organization, and sometimes commits acts in support of their goals. So far, his career has not taken him out of India, but he would actually like to engage audiences on a more global scale than he already has.Sangeet - PL 10Abilities:STR 0 | STA 0 | AGL 0 | DEX 0 | FGT 0 | INT 1 | AWE 2 | PRE 0Powers:Song and Dance Number: Linked Independent Illusion 2 (auditory); Linked Burst Area 2 Perception Range Progresssive Affliction 10 (Resisted by Will; Entranced & Vulnerable, Defenseless & Compelled, Controlled), Extra Condition, Concentration, Limited to making people sing and dance - 84 pointsAdvantages:Beginner's Luck, Defensive Roll 2, Languages 2 (English, others [Hindi is native]).Skills:Expertise: Performance 8 (+8), Expertise: Pop Culture 6 (+7), Insight 5 (+7), Perception 5 (+7), Stealth 6 (+6).Offense:Initiative +0Unarmed +0 (Close Damage 0)Song & Dance Number -- (Burst Area Perception Range Will 10)Defense:Dodge 4, Parry 3, Fortitude 2, Toughness 5/0, Will 6.Totals:Abilities 6 + Powers 84 + Advantages 4 + Skills 15 + Defenses 13 = 122 pointsComplications:Revenge, Greed, Power, Really It Varies--Motivation. Temper.</blockquote>

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