Catcalls and whistles crown Hrithik as girls' Himbo No 1

Catcalls and whistles crown Hrithik as girls' Himbo No 1
KANIKA GAHLAUT

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3: This story is not about Hrithik Roshan (the star of the megahit Kaho Na Pyaar Hai and the man who's expected to break the trio-poly of the Khans) or about Provogue, the apparel brand that got him to don their shirts and make a five-minute appearance on the ramp for an undisclosed (read astronomical) sum of money.

The story is about the arrival of the Himbo, and the Delhi chick's unabashed approval of the male Chest Wide Open and Mouth Wide Shut. So while you had model Preeti Mankotia and friends oohhh-ing and aahh-ing at the boys' last season on Ashish Soni's ramp at the Provogue show, you had them braving the limited seating and the rains, standing for hours in the Radisson lobby patiently making the ``do-you-have-extra-passes'' requests and jostling to gatecrash into the post-show party, just for a chance to fall over a surrounded-by-20-bodyguards Hrithik.

``We wanted people to come and have fun, that was the whole purpose of the evening,'' says Shivkaran Singh, North India Regional Head, Provogue, who took a call on his cellphone every two minutes ever since the full page ads announcing Hrithik's presence at the event began appearing in the city's dailies.

Unfortunately for her, emcee Laila Rouass found her voice drowned in piercing whistles, even as she tried to pacify them by constantly mentioning the `surprise' that was about to reveal itself. The whistling reached a crescendo when the Lucky Ali Ai Mere Dil soundtrack began and the fog machines announced the arrival of the `surprise', the light-eyed Hrithik, who walked once on the ramp in a Provogue shirt, pointed his finger in all directions, grinned vacuously, did a little jump (which passed off as a dance step), smiled and did some more finger-pointing when the girls shouted, ``We want Hrithikagain'' but didn't oblige and went offstage.

Only to reappear in the lobby, pursued by autograph-seeking fans, making his way to the Sportsbar where yet more cries of `Hrithik, Hrithik' were met with a profoundly intelligent response: A finger point and a grin in the general direction of the voice. The story, of course, ends on a high-pitched note: ``Eeeeeeeeeghhhhhhhhhhhh!''