FAN FRENZY GREETS ALIA, VARUN IN DELHI

Excited fans, loud cheers and loads of masti are a given when Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are around

After an enthu stopover at Delhi University’s Hindu College on Friday, where actors Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and filmmaker Shashank Khaitan met thousands of Bollywood-crazy students — who had their phones on selfie-mode and eyes fixed on the stars — the trio reached HT City. In the Capital to promote their film, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, and meet the winners of Stars in the City contest, the celebs engaged in a freewheeling chat with the fans, answering their volley of questions, and obliged them with pictures, autographs, dance requests and what not!

“It always feels wonderful to be in Delhi. We get so much love here,” said Varun, adding that they even skipped lunch as they didn’t want to keep their fans waiting. Between shout outs of ‘I love you, Alia’ and whispers like ‘I want to hug Varun’, a fan read out a self-composed poem in praise of Alia, and later gave her a rose. Varun, too, received a bouquet from a fan, and the lucky girl was taken in for a surprise when Varun took out a flower from the bunch and gave it to her. It was a visual treat when the actors later broke into a dance on the title track with the fans.

As for the chit-chat, a fan asked Alia if she’d do a film with her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, and she said: “My father won’t direct a film again. He calls himself an extinct volcano, because he doesn’t want to direct again. But I’ll work with his production house, because it would be great but not because we’re a family. That would be a wrong reason.”

Varun shared that he was sold on the idea when he heard that his character in the film was called Badri. “When Shashank came, and narrated the first scene to me, I could not wait for him to go ahead. I connected to the name Badri instantly. One of my best friends, Kavish, calls me Badri. It was so strange! I went to my balcony and shouted out to Kavish that there is this film where the character is called Badri. He was like, ‘Karle, bhagwaan ne bheji hai tere liye.’

Shashank was asked if Alia and Varun’s friendship made it easier to work with the two, and he said that more than that, it was their hard work that helped the film. “It’s great to have friends as co-actors. There is such comfort between the two.” All in all, it was a fun-filled session with the stars, one that their fans would cherish for long.

PHOTOS: AMAL KS AND SHIVAM SAXENA/HT

PHOTO: MANOJ VERMA/HT

(L-R) Actors Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and filmmaker Shashank Khaitan took selfies with the crowd at Hindu College; (below) Students cheered on as the actors danced on stage