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 Hrithik Roshan proved a real and literal traffic-stopper in New York
on Sunday night when all traffic was halted for him to sprint across
42nd Street to meet his fans.
Amidst heavy security bandobast at Times Square, the New York
premiere of Kites concluded on Sunday evening to a roaring ovation.
There were some heart- stopping moments of security hazard caused
mainly by Hrithik Roshan’s fan-concern when breaking all protection
protocol the star made a dash across the bustling 42nd Street from the
venue of the premiere to eager fans across the road.
Hrithik Roshan’s considerate gesture towards fans created panic for
the tense and anxious Kites team.
The story goes…at around 5 in the evening when Hrithik, along with
his co-star Barbara Mori and wife Sussanne, Dad and Mom Rakesh and Pinky
Roshan, director Anurag Basu (with wife), and other members of the
team reached 42nd street at Times Square, he was told to wave out to
hordes of Indian fans who had been standing on the other side of the
super-broad street since early morning waiting for a glimpse of the
star.
Sanjeev Lamba of Reliance Big Pictures confirms the incident,
“Hrithik did indeed dash across 42nd Street from our red carpet to
waiting fans across the road. And we aren’t talking about crossing just
any busy street at peak hour. 42nd Street is a gigantic universe.
Hrithik ran across a good half a mile to get to his fans.”
The elaborate security was obviously in a panic.
Says Lamba, “We had to halt all traffic on 42nd Street for Hrithik to
cross. So we can finally say Hrithik Roshan is the first
traffic-stopper from Bollywood to make the crossover.”
Not just a dash across the busiest street to meet his fans, Hrithik
and his dad also made impromptu arrangements for about 500 fans to be
accommodated in an extra screen at the AMC Empire Theatre.
Hours after the exhausting and exhilarating experience Rakesh Roshan
said, “What could we do? There were 400-500 of Hrithik’s fans who
wanted to see the film. There were women crying, girls tearing their
hair and threatening to commit suicide.”
In addition to the 700-seater at the AMC Empire Theatre, a smaller
500-seater screener was rented for extra fans at the last minute.
“We had no choice. The fans wouldn’t have allowed us to have the New
York premiere, if we refused. We’re glad Hrithik’s fans returned happy.
At the after-party at the Grand Park Ville, everyone was talking about
the new grammar of filmmaking in Kites.”
Subhash K. Jha / Sampurn Wire
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