Seated at a patisserie off Linking Road in Bandra, Shikha Sharma is every inch your average, shy college girl, complete with a big, sweet smile, the mandatory satchel, and a T-shirt with rolled up sleeves. What isn't obvious, however, is how rabid a Ranbir Kapoor fan she is.
"His watchman recognises me now because I stand outside his home hoping to catch a glimpse of him every week, " admits the National College student.
Her patience paid off when, about a year ago, RK Junior sped into his Pali Hill home in his red Audi, only to be accosted by Sharma and her friend, who insisted he stop the car, get out, and sign an autograph with them, all of which the "very down to earth" actor affably did, she gushes.
It's the kind of story that makes you cringe, or hark back nostalgically to memories of the poster of your teenage heartthrob plastered in your room, and go 'Aww".
It's also the kind of frenzy that landed 17 year-old Sharma the title of Kapoor's biggest fan, and gave her the opportunity to live the actor's life as part of Live My Life on UTV Stars.
But she wasn't alone. At 23, six years Sharma's senior, Khushboo Minocha is no less starstruck. Although meeting Kapoor was akin to striking gold for this Haryana girl, it didn't come without a dose of jealousy at having to share her moment of wonder with another girl. "I didn't want to be in competition with another girl.
Yes, I was jealous. We didn't know until the very last minute that we'd both actually be meeting him." No wonder the two even squabbled at one point, Sharma giggles, adding proudly that she was the one who won a quiz on the actor that was put to the duo as part of the show.
Minocha, who was over the moon when she was driven past RK's Pali Hill residence by his friend, tattoo and hairstylist Hakim
Aalim, as part of her victory, also has 150 (yes, you read it right) pictures of the actor on her phone. This writer hardly had to
ask her anything, because her excitement, even over the phone, is palpable.
Alternately sighing and laughing, she gushes, "I read that he learnt how to play the guitar for Rockstar, so I started playing it too. And now I can play it as well as him because I've learnt for as long." Talk about dedication.
Both girls agree that their object of affection was "humourous and very friendly."
No wonder their symptoms post Ranbir-iosis include "feverishness!" and sending a bouquet of flowers to his home on his birthday with a phone number and a request "for him to text me back if he remembers me as the girl from UTV, " confesses Sharma, who also nurtures aspirations of working with him at some point.
"Ranbir wants to turn director some day, and so do I, being a BBM student, " she says, sagely, before the veneer cracks and she laughs, "I don't mind playing a maidservant in one scene with him!"
For Minocha, the dream refuses to end. "I've been a crazy fan ever since I saw Saawariya in 2007. Now, I'm even more frenzied.
My friends asked me not to wash the clothes I was wearing when he hugged me, " she rattles off, concluding wistfully, "I was drinking hot water the other day, when he appeared on TV. I was so unsettled, considering I had just met him a couple of weeks ago, I dropped the glass, spilling it all over me!"
