Emraan does cartwheels in Kolkata!

doweshowbellyad=0; Emraan Hashmi (TOI photo) More picsThe labyrinthine lanes of Kolkata have a strange sense of romanticism in them.
Even on a sultry summer afternoon, when sunshine on the shoulders doesn���t exactly make everyone happy, one can still find many a vagabondish soul eager to find magic in the light-and-shade filigree work created by the towering shadows of the Raj relics on the metalled lanes.But hardly does one find a celebrity indulging in such simple pleasures of life. The fear of being mobbed, tight schedules and the sheer lack of understanding that pleasure could come from such indulgences seldom allow celebs to get a taste of the common man���s pleasure trip. That���s why Emraan Hashmi had us completely bowled over on Friday afternoon when he wanted to step out of five-star comfort and hop onto a hand-pulled rickshaw!
The spindly-legged, rag-clad rickshaw pullers were no less stunned than us. Initial sense of disbelief at getting a chance to ply a Bollywood star gave way to competition. ���Aap mere gaadi mein baithiye...,��� we
overheard two rickshaw pullers vie to be the chosen one to tell posterity that it was on his green-benched rickshaw that the star had taken a ride down Kolkata lane! Drivers of the
ubiquitous yellow taxis came to screeching halts, hoping the star would change his mind and hop into their dream machines for a city tour.
But, Emraan wouldn���t trade a rickshaw for a cab ride. ���The Kolkata of today is different from what I had seen while promoting Tumsa Nahin Dekha here. Back then, we had taken rickshaw rides and had pani puris too,��� he recalled, even as reports trickled in on his phone about the openings of his Friday release.
Word spread and the sleepy bylane soon turned into a marketplace. ���Emraan bhai, one autograph, please,��� said a student while pushing a blank page of his tuition notebook. ���Adulation isn���t any invasion of my privacy. I���ve been through a slump in adulation too. That���s when my father and grandmother had forced me to wear yellow sapphire and coral rings! And to think that earlier, I wouldn���t have been caught dead wearing rings. Four months back, I started wearing a tasbi from a dargah too. Adulation is great, except when I have to give my rave parties a miss.
Where is the pleasure in partying with my face covered?��� he asked, even as he tipped a hundred to the rickshawpuller and sauntered towards a dazed bhelpuriwallah, who wasn���t still sure of whether he was daydreaming or not.���I don���t like it if I walk into a disc where my name is announced. I���m not good with attention. I was never the popular guy in school either. But things are so different now. Recently, I was in Pakistan and it took me an hour to wade through the sea of people to reach the theatre from my car,��� he continued.
Has this popularity got anything to do with his image of being a serial kisser? ���Three films of mine released in Pakistan without any kisses. Perhaps, people like the fact that I connect with the masses and am accessible. My Hashmi surname also works in Pakistan because of the Muslim connect,��� he reasoned.
By then, the crowd was literally breathing down Emraan���s shoulders. That was indication enough to move back to the secure confines of the hotel. The bhelpuriwallah still hadn���t recovered from his shock and had ended up offering a blank paper packet to his matinee idol. Can���t blame him. He is used to selling bhel in front of posters of Emraan���s films. He never quite got around to anticipating that Emraan would take a leap from the posters and buy bhel from him. Maybe, he is now hoping he will do better next time.
priyanka.dasgupta@timesgroup.com