/> Over the weekend Farhan Akhtar has been walking on sunshine. He got to meet one of his childhood idols and an actor who has shaped many of Farhan's most precious ideas on filmmaking.

"I met Robert de Niro in Dubai this week. I can't even begin to tell you what it meant to me. I mean, everyone who loves cinema loves de Niro, right? But with me it's a little more."

And now Farhan can't get over the experience. "When I heard HE was going to be there at the Dubai event I had to be there too.

Yes, de Niro was my primary incentive for attending. I had hoped for a handshake with de Niro at the most. I got a whole hug. I don't know whether he felt my respect for him. But to see him so upclose and personal was an awesome experience.

De Niro turned out to be a thorough gentleman. Everyone there at the Dubai event wanted to meet him. What an ordeal it must have been for him to smile and talk to everyone. But he was so in control."

Though de Niro didn't know about Farhan's work he spoke very warmly to Farhan. "Shah Rukh who was with us was sweet enough to tell de Niro quite a lot about about my work. De Niro has given us his contact details where we'll be sending him my films. I'm doing so right away."

While often meeting a hero takes away the aura of hero-wosrhip with Farhan it worked just the other way. "I'm completely impressed. I hadn't gone there expecting him to give me a star treatment or anything. But he was wonderful.He spoke to us. That was more than I could ask for."

Farhan says the break in Dubai was not a break at all. "We were constantly doing something or the other, attending one event after the next. There was no respite. You can hardly call it a holiday.

Now I need a holiday to get over the experience and relive my golden moments with De Niro. To me it was amazing to have met someone who has been a complete inspiration for me.

My love for movies was inspired by people like de Niro and Mr Bachchan. He was a wow factor right after I saw Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, etc."

Farhan thinks our film industry is finally getting recognized at a global level. "When one goes to an event such as this, one encounters a huge amount of cinematic talent from all the world. This kind of interaction was not possible ten years ago."