He came, he saw and he was mobbed. As Indian cinema's living legend Amitabh Bachchan touched down in the city of his emotional past to play King Lear in a Rituparno Ghosh film, the airport took on the look of a soccer stadium.

Arriving in Kolkata has never been a fanfare-free affair for Amitabh Bachchan but the craze to see the ageing star, who arrived to essay the role of King Lear in the English movie "The Last Lear", surpassed all previous frenzy. There was a sea of humanity at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport early Friday.

Attired in white, Bachchan arrived on an Air Sahara flight from Lucknow in the morning and made for a city hotel followed by a huge convoy. The airport arrival was no easy affair - his ardent fans wouldn't allow him to leave the premises without some photographs.

"Despite his busy schedule he posed for a photograph with me. I cannot believe it," said a Bachchan fan at the airport.

Another fan said: "He was walking and I walked along. It was an experience of a lifetime for me."

Police had a tough time controlling the crowd.

Later in the day, Big B inaugurated Emami group's corporate office, Emami Tower, on the E.M. Bypass, where he was greeted with similar frenzy.

Amitabh would be shooting for the next few days at the Bharat Laxmi studio here for "The Last Lear".

The film will not be a direct adaptation of Shakespeare's play. It will be based on an adapted play called "Aajker Shahjahan" by the late actor and playwright Utpal Dutt.

The film, produced by Planman Motion Pictures, also stars Priety Zinta, Arjun Rampal and Bengali actor Jisshu Sengupta.