Calcutta, Aug. 23 :
Class IV student Jitendra Rajak tried several times to talk to Amitabh Bachchan on Kaun Banega Crorepati. Like hundreds of others who have attempted and failed to lock in with superstarji, Rajak didn't succeed.
Unlike others, adults chasing dreams worth a crore, Rajak is only about 10 years old. Once the phone lines shut him out with the monotone of rejection, the boy from central Calcutta thought the shortest way to get to Bachchan was take a train from Howrah station to Mumbai.
'How can I talk to Bachchan if I don't go to Mumbai?' Rajak explained after being caught while setting off for the land of crorepatis by the Arabian Sea. 'So, I decided to steal money from my home and go to Mumbai to watch the show live,' he said.
Rajak was among seven school students detained by the railway protection force at Howrah station on Wednesday morning, their dreams stopped in their tracks before they could board the Mumbai Mail. Railway police officer B.D. Bhattacharya became suspicious after finding the boys roaming aimlessly on the platform. All the boys are students of a school in Amherst Street.
Rajak is the youngest among Mohammed Kamran, Sabir Ahmed, Mohammed Kasim, Mohammed Sarfaraj, Mohammed Saddique and Mohammed Motiuddin. The others, however, were heading for Mumbai to become film stars, but had to settle for a return to their middle-class homes after being handed over to their parents in the evening.
Between the seven of them, the boys had two general class tickets which they acquired after bribing a paanwallah at the station. They were carrying hand bags, in which they had packed their clothes. The books were there too. All of them confessed to stealing money from their parents.
Many of the boys are admirers of Juhi Chawla and were planning to form a fan club. 'I want to work in a film with Juhi Chawla,' said Sarfaraj, a student of class IX. All the boys were confident that if they somehow managed to get to Mumbai, it was only a matter of time before they became stars. 'How can I work in a Mumbai film if I can't go there?' asked Kasim, a student of Class VII.
The abortive bid by Rajak and his friends coincided with the news that someone from Calcutta has won the highest amount so far in Crorepati, which has created a frenzy never before seen over a television programme.