Shah Rukh Khan rocked St. Xavier’s College on Wednesday evening with his dimpled smile, star appeal and snappy quips, giving a 10,000-strong crowd of screaming fans plentiful “happy” moments to remember the evening by.
If a kiss each on the forehead was a fairy tale come true for three second-year students, SRK’s spontaneity ensured that everyone else had something to take away from the hour-long Happy New Year show “Indiawaale Kolkata Mein Chha Gaye!” — presented by t2 in association with CenturyPly and Gameplan, powered by Glamour World Ayurvedic and partnered by the St. Xavier’s College Alumni Association and 91.9 Friends FM.
Chants of “We want Shah Rukh” had rent the air from 5.30pm with half the crowd already on the playground by then, armed with posters professing their love for King Khan and wishing HNY “good luck”. By the time SRK, Farah Khan and the rest of the Indiawaale team arrived from The Oberoi Grand, the crowd had doubled.
First on the stage was director Farah, who promised the audience King Khan in exchange for another promise. “Promise me, all 10,000 of you will go and watch Happy New Year again tomorrow, then I’ll ask Shah Rukh to come on stage,” she said.
For SRK, this crowd would have promised her the moon.
Shah Rukh jogged onto the stage clad in ripped denims, black tee, tan leather jacket and his trademark dimpled smile. Delirium.
“There is no place like Calcutta for the love that I get and this is even beyond that. So, thank you very much. I am going to be here. I will talk for you, I will dance for you. I will do everything that you guys say,” promised Shah Rukh.
He proceeded to do just that and more.
The crowd would roar in approval whenever Shah Rukh said something, the screaming continuing when his HNY co-stars Sonu Sood and Vivaan Shah or director Farah endorsed the Bolly Badshah’s love for his adopted hometown. “Shah Rukh told me that when you come to Calcutta with him, you witness love like you have never before, and I am witnessing it right now,” Farah said.
“I genuinely feel like a king of the world because of everyone in Calcutta. I was born in Delhi and brought up in Mumbai, but I can tell you, absolutely, unquantifiably, the love that I get in Calcutta I get nowhere else. As long as I am working I want to come back and do something special for Calcutta so please pray for me that I can do so,” Shah Rukh added.
He went on to repeat a dialogue from Happy New Year that he said was closest to his heart and one which students could learn from — “Duniya mein do tarah ke log hote hain, winners and losers, lekin zindagi har loser ko woh ek mowka zaroor deti hai jismein woh winner ban sakte hain.”
While Shah Rukh the non-stop entertainer didn’t come as a surprise, at Xavier’s on Wednesday it was his turn to be entertained by his fans. Ten Xaverians got the opportunity to perform not just for, but with King Khan, Sonu, Vivaan and Farah.
While Moubani Roy Choudhury tried a dialogue from HNY, to which Shah Rukh responded with a “You are breathtaking”, fellow Xaverian Virender Singh sang Indiawaale. But it was when four students chosen to dance with the star took the stage that the fun went up a notch.
“I am switching to the Xavier’s team. I am in Calcutta, I have to be with my city. You guys (Farah, Vivaan and Sonu) can represent HNY,” SRK said, slipping between the Xaverians.
After the group had danced to various songs from HNY, Shah Rukh announced that it was time to groove to something different. “Can we have Lungi dance, please?” he hollered.
The audience went wild, as did everyone on stage.
When Class VI student of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School Divyansh Agarwal was reported missing in the crowd crush, SRK did his bit in locating him. “Divyansh, your parents are a little worried. Can you come in front of the stage? You can use this as an excuse to come up and see us from up close as well,” Shah Rukh said, prompting the ladies in the audience to call out that they were all “lost”.
SRK immediately flashed a dimpled smile and flipped a thumbs up sign.
While Shah Rukh hugged, danced, sang along and blew kisses at the audience every few minutes, what he didn’t do despite several requests was take off his black tee and show his eight-pack abs.
The audience did get a glimpse of hunk Sonu’s pectorals though, thanks to director Farah’s bullying.
The HNY team was felicitated by Father Felix Raj, principal of St. Xavier’s College, and also cut a cake to celebrate the success of the film.
Each member of the HNY team got a Xaverian T-shirt and a cap.
The best gift, of course, was reserved for the audience: SRK up close and personal.
What makes SRK a winner each time he takes the stage? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Story> Calcutta / by Chandreyee Chatterjee and Pramita Ghosh / Thursday – October 30th, 2014