Conquering Calcutta

Some almost swooned while others stared wide-eyed. The moment India8217;s current heartthrob and Bollywood8217;s latest sensation Hrithik Roshan stepped in at a discotheque at a Calcutta hotel recently, the crowds erupted in collective frenzy. Then there were thousands who waited outside the hotel in the scorching heat just to catch a glimpse of Hrithik.There was total chaos inside the hotel and youngsters jostled fiercely with each other just to touch him.

The confusion was confounded when the actor almost fell from a ramp where he had climbed at the request of the crowd. Jiving to the tune of the title song of Kaho Na Pyar Hai, he was joined on the dance floor by youngsters who fought with each other to shake a leg with the gorgeous hunk. 8220;I have seen many celebrities including film stars coming in here but there has never been such mass hysteria,8221; said one of the hotel employees.

For the Calcutta police, it was a harrowing time as they had to make elaborate security arrangements. 8220;I had to make all the arrangements for the star8217;s security,8221; said Deputy Commissioner of Police Headquarters Nazrul Islam. But his men had to cane people away at a music store where Hrithik could not get down from his Mercedes for ten minutes. 8220;I love Calcutta, I believe in love,8221; was the parting shot of the millennium star to his frenetic fans before he zoomed off to airport to return to Mumbai. But Calcutta is still in a trance.