Mithun Chakraborty

As a kid I had dreamt of getting married to Mithun Chakraborty! I must have been in Class VIII then. Many, many years later I got to interview him... and how? I spent three most memorable days in Santiniketan with HIM!

Well, my man may have lost that simple Bengali boy charm and a few wrinkles sat on his face, but he sure did make me go weak in the knees every time we sat down for a heart to heart.

He made me comfortable enough to confess how I had wanted to marry him as a kid. And how he laughed!

That a superstar can be so normal, chat with anybody and also cook the most amazing mutton curry and chutney was a revelation. I was bowled over when he served dinner cooked by him. Yes, the way to this woman’s heart is through her stomach!

Abir Chatterjee

I always liked Abir but I never imagined I would be SO starstruck when I got to interact with him for the first time. I just did not know how to approach him for a quote as he was on stage and it was quite crowded. It was SO sweet of him to call me aside and give a quote. But it was so unexpected that I forgot to take a picture with him, which I regretted till I met him the second time.

It was no better the second time around. I forgot my questions and all I could do was smile. I was SO busy crushing on his smile, the cut on his cheek and his eyes. But this time I did muster up the courage to pose for a photograph with him — my first with a celebrity.

Farhan Akhtar

I really, really like Farhan Akhtar but I never considered myself half-way in love with him till I met him for a Team t2 interaction. Even when he walked in with his perfect body in a snug white tee, smiling that smile and dimpling that dimple, I was okay. He was talking about MARD and I was suitably impressed by his earnestness and fervour.

When it was my turn, I said his name to get his attention and he focused his eyes on me and smiled. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. There was a buzzing in my ears and I felt mildly breathless. I was in love.

I assume I had asked him my question. He replied looking straight at me, sometimes intensely and sometimes with a smile. I assume his expressions coincided with what he was saying, because I did not hear a word of what he said. I knew I had a smitten smile on my face and I kept giving myself mental nudges to remind myself not to look dim-witted. I don’t know if I succeeded or failed.

What I do know is that I am still not over being in love with Farhan!

Vidya Balan

With Vidya, it was not just meeting the woman on whom I had a girl crush, it was a comedy of errors from which I came out with an even bigger crush! I was covering an event where the Kahaani star was to be felicitated. She walked in wearing this gorgeous white sari with an embroidered gold border. The smile on her lips was even prettier. Her gaze fell on me, she gave me a 1,000watt smile, while her eyes said a very warm hello. I was so puzzled, I didn’t even smile back, I think. A few minutes later, one of the organisers introduced me. She turned and flashed me another smile. “But I know her, I met her yesterday,” she declared happily. I said this was the first time I had met her. She wasn’t convinced, I could see. “But are you sure this is the first time I am meeting you?” she asked. Wow, I am having a real conversation with my hero, not just a fangirl moment, I realised gleefully. Then the penny dropped. Vidya had met my colleague the previous evening at an event and yes, even if I am loathe to admit it, we do look alike.

I told her about my doppelganger and she laughed and laughed — a belly laughter, not a celeb’s titter. I laughed too, marvelling at how normal she was.

Ranbir Kapoor

May 23, 2013 is a day I revisit whenever I feel low. Ask why? Because that day my hero had me at hello as he walked into the t2 office. A pale blue jacket, denims, a stud in his ear, a twinkle in his eyes... I was dazed. Ranbir Kapoor, whom I have gaped at on the big screen and my laptop, was so close to me!

I loved how he greeted each of us personally. The droopy eyes, piercing gaze and infectious smile got my heart beating so hard that at one point I could barely hear him speak. Total filmi? Yes, but total truth.

When it was time for a Team t2 picture with him, I was ‘Besharam’ and stood right next to him and felt our shoulders touch *blush*. Was this for real? My heart didn’t want to settle for just a picture so I asked for an autograph. “Umm… yaar I have very poor handwriting,” he said, but who cared? Even if it were a doodle I would keep it in my locker! He signed as I stood close to him and gaped. Wish I could keep him there forever, but he got up and left.

But that half hour will stay with me always and the autograph will remain my most prized possession.

Sourav Ganguly

I wanted to become a journalist so that I could meet Ajay Jadeja. After 2000, it was Sourav Ganguly. One and only.

And in 2009, I FINALLY met HIM!

I stood in a corner of a Tollygunge studio where he was shooting for a bike ad, trying to muster up enough courage to take a quote or two. The photographer who had accompanied me saw me quaking in my sandals and introduced me to HIM. I forgot the questions I had so painstakingly formed in my head. I mumbled something. He answered in monosyllables. I was heartbroken.

Over the next few years, though I have interviewed him many times, I still get tongue-tied. The Dictaphone in my hand starts shaking and I keep repeating questions! But he answers all my questions so well. And who said he acts pricey? He is so sweet!

I think he knows that I have a crush on him! And now, this thought is giving me cold feet. Thank god I am not meeting him anytime soon. Till ISL kicks off!

Vikram Seth

I was 16 when he became the poster boy for Indian writing in English, and as a young adult who tended to fall for the cerebral type, he was my kinda guy. Scruffy hair and sheepish smile with the sparkling eyes of a wanderer, a suitable boy waltzed into my heart. I rummaged through his other books… stumbled at The Golden Gate, laughed with Beastly Tales, lost sleep over All You Who Sleep Tonight. In the next few years, I had grown up and moved on (to crush on other writers). Or so I thought.

Knotted up and heart hammering, I tiptoed into his Taj Bengal suite some summers ago, clutching a copy of his latest book Two Lives. We said hello, he smiled at me and I went completely blank. So busy was I staring at him and wallowing in that disarming smile — so what if he had declared himself bisexual? — that my fuzzy brain failed to form a decent sentence to start a conversation. But I needn’t, because he had started talking. About this, that and the other, as if we were old friends. When we came to Two Lives, he poured out memories of his childhood. I could see why I had liked him so much.

Next day, he charmed a packed Taj Crystal room — reading, musing, laughing, making people laugh — at the end of which a bevy of mashis, pishis and cousins huddled around him. A book launch turned into a family reunion. I fell all over again, this time for the family guy who’s also a lovely writer.

Salman Khan

“Dosti mein no ‘sorry’ and no ‘thank you’.” Salman Khan got me with that one line as I watched Maine Pyar Kiya, a wide-eyed nine-year-old.

As the years went by, I still wanted to be his friend. The first time I met him was at the media launch of his game show 10 Ka Dum. He sauntered in a couple of hours late, cancelled all one-on-one interviews and decided to answer questions in a group. When it came to the last question, he looked straight at me and asked: ‘Do you have a question for me?’ I have never been so tongue-tied. I remember I asked him something. I remember he smiled and answered it. I don’t remember anything more.

Last year I found myself — with minimal people around — in a room with Salman. It was the launch of the seventh season of Bigg Boss and there I was sitting face to face with the man in his trademark Being Human tee and distressed denims. “Would you like some green tea?” was his first question. I said “yes” though I can’t stand the sight of green tea. We ended up chatting for long, with Salman gradually opening up, that initial stiffness giving way to a relaxed charm.

At the end of it, he stood up, we shook hands and unexpectedly he reached out for a hug. His parting note as I walked out of that door: “Nice freckles, by the way”. And then, that smile.

I barely mumbled a ‘thank you’. But I know he wouldn’t mind. After all, “Dosti mein no ‘thank you’.” Right, Salman?

Sanjna Kapoor

This paragraph will have many exclamation marks. I can’t help it. She is that gorgeous! She is that awesome! She is that magnetic! Who cares that she is MUCH older. I forget everything the moment I meet her. A zillion thanks to the voice recorder on my phone because half the time I get lost in the way she speaks and laughs. A lady who single-handedly revived Prithvi Theatre in Bombay (yes, she uses that name so I will use it too!) and then detached herself from Prithvi in the most saintly fashion and jumped into another project to follow her junoon. Kudos! Once during an interview, she ordered fried prawns for me. Despite being allergic to prawn, I couldn’t utter a word. How could I say no to Sanjna?!