We saw him holding a gun. He asked us to behave, and then told us to call our parents one by one over the phone,” recounted an 11-year-old from Kolhapur who was held hostage with 15 other children at the RA Studio in Powai on Thursday. The young girl and her immediate family travelled to the city of dreams last week. Having scored a few on-screen roles in Marathi serials and movies, the young star attended workshops and trial shoots that were taking place at the studio.

Opening up about what happened before her captor, Rohit Arya, was gunned down by the police, she said, “We were only supposed to audition for five days, and Wednesday was supposed to be our last day. However, Rohit Arya formed three teams of children. He then sent a few of them home and called the rest of us for an extra shoot day. He had been friendly all along.”