Ali Hussain Khan; (above) Amitabh Bachchan as Auro in Paa. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Ali Hussain Khan, the 11-year-old city boy with progeria, has finally received an invite to meet the man who played Auro, his reel-life likeness in Paa.

Amitabh Bachchan’s secretary sent an email on Tuesday inviting Ali, whose progeric brother had died in December on the day Paa released with an unfulfilled dream of meeting the star, to Mumbai.

“This is to state that Mr Bishul Khan (Ali’s father) and family can meet Mr Amitabh Bachchan on May 11 at 12 noon at our office in Juhu,” reads the email sent to Pradip Churiwal, the chairman and CEO of Macneill Engineering Ltd, where Bishul is a caretaker.

“I am feeling very happy that I will be able to meet Bachchan. Since I saw Paa I have only wanted to meet him,” said Ali on Thursday at the family’s quarters in the company warehouse off Diamond Harbour Road.

“We have been in touch with Amitabh Bachchan’s office for the past two months and now we have got the confirmation. I’ll accompany the child and his parents and have booked tickets for flights and made other arrangements,” said Churiwal. “He was busy earlier and was also not in Mumbai for some time, so the meeting could not take place,” he added.

“I will say namaskar to him and request him to help my father. My condition is such that I can’t help my parents, who are very poor,” said the child. Ali can walk on his own but can’t fold his knees to sit.

Children like him manifest symptoms resembling aspects of ageing and live only till their early-20s. Three of Ali Hussain’s five sisters have died prematurely in the past seven years after suffering from the disease.

Ali’s brother Ekramul died in December when he was 22. Gauri Khatun, one of their sisters had died at the age of 15. Another sister, Robina, had died seven years back when she was 12. Rehana Khatun, the eldest, had died two years back at the age of 23.

“Children suffering from progeria usually die in their late teens. Some might survive a few more years,” said Apurba Ghosh, the director of the Institute of Child Health, Calcutta, which Ali visits regularly for treatment.

According to an estimate, there are only about 50 progeria patients across the world. The Khans had moved to the city from Bihar’s Chapra district decades back and might be the only progeric family in India.