Hrithik: Came, danced, conquered!

Hrithik Roshan proved what star power means at the Roshans' Show at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, New Delhi, on Friday.

Around 40,000 people watched the dancing sensation perform live sequences of his superhit songs from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, Mission Kashmir and Fiza.

Clouds of artificial smoke lent a misty haze to the sets. And the audience went hysterical when a masked Hrithik made a dramatic entrance in a shiny attire.

After a martial dance sequence, the star threw off his mask towards the audience. With arms wide open, shouted his first words, "Mere watan, mere watan." As his voice reverberated over the frenzied gathering, a tricolour slid over the show's banner, which formed the stage's backdrop.

Soon after, he moved all over the jam packed stadium in a trolley attached to a crane, waving to the crowd struggling for a closer glimpse of their heartthrob.

The trolley landed Hrithik on stage. Attired in a silver salwarand sleeveless vest, he danced to the tune of Rind poshmal gindne drai lo lo, from Mission Kashmir, in which he played the role of a Kashmiri militant. The header of the song has been borrowed from a Kashmiri folk song.

Panting after a vigorous dance sequence, he gulped some orange juice and then shared a light moment with the crowd: "Backstage, when I was biting my nails nervously, compere Archana Puran Singh asked me why I was nervous. When I denied it, she asked me why I was in the ladies toilet!''

He called Delhi "Hindustan ka dil" and declared that he was there to win the heart of Hindustan -- Delhi. The crowd's applause was proof enough that he had.

He went on to perform more numbers from Mission Kashmir with Namrata Shirodkar and Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai heroine Amisha Patel.

He ended with Dil ne dil ko pukara, again from Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, with Patel and Shirodkar.

Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan, Babul Supriyo and Mohd Aziz rendered songs composed by Hritik's uncle, music composer Rajesh Roshan, in-between his performances.

Rajesh directed the orchestra, while Hrithik's wife Suzanne Khan sat in the front row, with the audience.

The show, which was to be held on February 3, was postponed for 'security reasons'. Friday's show saw unprecedented security arrangements, supervised by P Kamraj, deputy police commissioner, south district.

Rakesh Roshan, Hrithik's film director father, told rediff.com, "I am very happy with the security arrangements and the response we got from the people."

The show also saw the auction of a Maruti Wagon R, the money from will be donated to the Gujarat earthquake victims. A documentary highlighting the plight of the quake victims, Remains of a Republic Day by Ramesh Kalwani was also screened at the show.

Photographs: Ranjan Basu/ Saab Press

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