By Subhash K Jha

That Robert de Niro visited India last week is a story we broke last week. What we didn't know , and what you'll be told now, is that de Niro made an impromptu unscheduled visit to Mumbai on Sunday purely on his friend Anupam Kher's request.

Says Anupam, `When he informed me of his scheduled visit to India I requested him to come to Mumbai for at least some hours . I wanted him to visit my acting school. He happily obliged. He was at my school from 5 pm until 9 pm. It was a pleasure to host him in Mumbai.`

While the young guns of Bollywood like Ranbir Kapoor and Sikandar Kher trooped into Anupam's school for a darshan of the God of acting it was Anupam's mother's Kashmiri cuisine which stole the show.

Says Anupam warmly, `My mother and aunt prepared a traditional Kashmiri meal for Robert. He seemed to enjoy it without reservations.`

De Niro also addressed the students and teachers of Anupam's school.

`I hadn't informed them about who was coming to visit. When they saw the God Of Acting walk in a couple of teachers almost fainted,` laughs Anupam.

Anupam and de Niro shared screen space in last year's hit Silver Linings Playback and have remained friends since then.

Anupam is making a documentary on de Niro