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Oh, Hrithik!

Zakia Maryam in Calcutta

Ever heard of kids offering lakhs to a star just to shake hands with him? That's precisely what two kids did when latest Bollywood sensation, Hrithik Roshan, arrived in Calcutta on April 5.

Since Rohan and Shweta Davar were unable to get a glimpse of their hero, their parents came up with a novel idea: of presenting cheques of Rs 1 lakh each for a mere handshake with Hrithik.

However, not everyone was as fortunate as the Davars. Hrithik’s admirers were ready to make any sacrifice to get his autograph, but only a few succeeded.

From the time he arrived at the airport around noon till his departure in the evening, Hrithik’s fans in Calcutta chased him wherever he went. The 25-year-old actor was in the city to make two public appearances and attend two private functions.

As soon as he reached Tantra, the new discotheque at the Park Hotel, the 5000-strong crowd which had gathered to see him, simply went berserk. Unruffled by police lathi-charge, the actor's fans, aged between 8 and 30, shouted, "Hrithik, I love you!"

The reigning hearth-throb took the ramp and began with his now-famous query: "Do you believe in love? Do you believe in life? Do you believe in me?" The response: a thunderous 'yeah' to each of the questions.

Hrithik's fans wanted him to enact a certain sequence from Kaho Naa... The young star was ready and he promptly asked the crowd, "Toh kaho naa pyar hai! And the excited teenagers screamed in unison, "Kaha naa pyar hai."

After spending about five minutes at Tantra, Hrithik left the discotheque to attend a charity event organised by the St Xaviers College Alumni Association. The tickets were priced at a whopping Rs 500 each, but it was hardly a deterrent for his fans who were ready to pay anything to spend some moments with Hrithik.

The crowd's obsession reached a crazy pinnacle when a pretty young girl threw herself in front of Hrithik’s car as it reached its destination. Another girl, a student of La Martinere, one of the better known schools in Calcutta, took off her tee-shirt in public and asked Hrithik to sign an autograph on her heart.

Calcuttans were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Hrithik ever since filmstar Mithun Chakraborty announced that the former would be participating in an All Star exhibition football match played at the Salt Lake stadium a few days earlier. A record 1.35 lakh tickets were sold soon after the announcement.

However, Mithun had to apologise to the crowd later, saying that the star of Kaho Naa...Pyaar Hai couldn’t make it due to other commitments.

Calcutta truly seems to be in the grip of Hrithik fever. Just a week ago, the principals of two reputed girls convents, St John's Diocession High School and Loreto Sealdah High School, had written to Hrithik, requesting him to make a public announcement and tell the girls from their institutions to concentrate on their studies.

Sister Cyril, principal of Loreto, revealed that two girls from her school had even run away from home to catch a Bombay-bound train, in the hope of meeting their favourite hero. "They were later caught and sent home by the railway police," she said.

Hrithik did make an announcement at Tantra, saying there is a difference between real and reel life. "What looks awesome on the big screen doesn’t necessarily mean that it will have the same impact in real life as well. So folks, please come out of this illusion and work hard on your studies."

After having lunch with industrialist R P Goenka at the latter’s residence at Belvedere Road, Hrithik's final stop was RPG Music World, the city’s newest music store. The actor politely asked the media to leave him alone so that he could do justice to his fans. "If you trust me a bit, all of you can kindly leave your names and addresses. I promise I’ll send each one of you my autographed photos," Hrithik told his fans.

Overwhelmed by his gesture, Ashwita, a student of St James High School, suggested that Park Street should be renamed Hrithik Roshan Sarani. Why 'Sarani,' and not 'Street?' The teenager justified that Sarani would give it a Bengali touch!