Subhash K Jha reminisces about the time Abhishek Bachchan caused a real, not reel, stampede on his street.
This was in 2011. Abhishek, a dear friend, was in my town, Patna, to promote his film Dum Maro Dum with co-star Rana Daggubati and director Rohan Sippy. At around 6pm, when Abhishek had taken off his shoes and had plonked himself comfortably on the floor in our house, and we were all bitching about the whole industry, a neatly dressed man walked straight in and requested a picture. I presumed he was part of Abhishek’s extended entourage of security guards, publicity coordinators, and photographers.
It turned out to be a man from the street who had slipped past the tight security, walked confidently up the four flights of stairs to our top floor, got his picture, and walked out.
By this time, the crowd of around 500 people strong when Abhishek arrived at 5.30 pm had swollen to approximately 2,000 shouting, screaming, frenzied, furious youngsters (all male) upset that the star in our house was not giving them a darshan.
Our road was completely jammed from start to end. Members of Abhishek, Rohan Sippy, and Daggubati Rana’s team, who had stayed back in their vehicles on the streets below our house, were stuck inside their cars. There was no space for them to open their car doors and come out in the open for a breather!
As news spread in and around our neighbourhood of Abhishek’s visit the street began to get even more jam-packed. It was quite impossible for anyone to get in or out of our house.
For all practical purposes, Abhishek was stuck inside our house. Abhishek showed no sign of worry, let alone panic. “Let them be. I’m in no mood to leave,” declared Abhishek nonchalantly.
My wife suggested he use our guest room for the night.
“But they’d have to leave in the morning to catch their flight, no? These people out there are going to stay put all night if they have to,” Abhishek’s painfully young PR girl Bansuri was about to burst into tears.
This was Amitabh Bachchan’s son’s first visit to Patna. No one was in the mood to let this visit be anything short of memorable for Abhishek.
“Abhishek! Abhishek!” They chanted and roared. I am sure the chant was heard all across Patna, right into Nitish Kumar’s residence. Soon, messages to cops accompanying Abhishek began to come from the CM house asking for a meeting with ‘Bachchan Saab Ka Suputra’
Bachchan Saab ka ladla was in no mood to oblige. He hadn’t slept for four nights, traveling from city to city to promote Dum Maro Dum.
After a while, a senior police officer rushed into our home to request Abhishek come out on the terrace of our house every 15 minutes and wave to the crowds. This was to prevent mob fury, we were told. Abhishek did even better. He smiled, waved, and blew kisses at the crowds.
The roar, I am sure, could be heard all across Bihar by now.
At around 8.30, Abhishek’s security service began to get enormously jittery. “If we don’t leave now, we won’t be able to get out of here.”
“Okay, we will make our movies from here only. We have a director, a star of today, and a star of tomorrow,” Abhishek quipped. Rana, a stranger to the crowds in Bihar, grinned in concurrence.
We wondered why Abhishek was so cool about the imminent collapse of his elaborate police bandobast.
We soon found out.
When it was time to leave, Abhishek walked coolly to the terrace as the roar on the road reached a crescendo. Like Anna Hazare he waved to them to quieten down. They obeyed. Then he signaled that he had to leave to get some sleep.
The crowds seemed to understand exactly what their demi-god meant. When Abhishek and the entourage stepped down and got into the car, the crowds parted like the Red Sea as a modern-day Moses swept out of the bustle.
“Soon, this will happen to you too,” I consoled Rana just before they left. He grinned some more and quipped, “Awesome.”
Precisely.
I’ve had any number of stars home. Crowds always seem to materialize magically for them. Nothing like this has ever happened before.
“Just pray that Pa never visits you,” Abhishek whispered just before he left.
He did. But that is another story.
