She in blue denims, figure-hugging white top, short black jacket and a new hairdo for the cool off-court look. He in blue denims, grey round-neck tee, coffee-coloured jacket and pointed sideburns for the Jodhaa Akbar look.

Sania Mirza and Hrithik Roshan — by common GenY consent, the two most attractive young Indians around — sent the celebrity Celsius in town soaring on Monday afternoon. If the tennis icon touched down for Sunfeast Open 2007, the screen hero was here for a brand endorsement.

By Monday evening, the 20-year-old star attraction shattered hopes of fans waiting to see her in action — but not before making five-year-old Jonathan Lalrohlua’s day.

Jonathan, a leukaemia patient, remains confined to his bed at the AMRI Hospitals in Dhakuria, with only the TV screen bringing a smile to his cherubic face. But when Sania played Santa on Monday afternoon, dropping in to wish him well, little Jonathan could not stop beaming. “We were so excited. She asked my son how he was feeling and gave him an autographed tennis ball,” smiled L.D. Parte.

The youth icon met two other cancer patients during a short visit to the radiation oncology department of the hospital. AMRI is the official hospital for the tournament that Sania will miss because of a wrist injury. “I am happy that she came to see me and I would like to thank her,” said Mahbubul Haque, Congress MLA of Kharba, undergoing treatment for prostrate cancer.

The hospital that makes it a habit of hosting celebrities passing through town was bowled over by Sania. “She is very humble and lent a human touch. And she seemed to be as popular as Shah Rukh Khan,” said D.N. Agarwal, executive director of AMRI.

Shah Rukh’s likely successor as Bollywood badshah, meanwhile, played to limited galleries at a star hotel. As the ambassador of an innerwear brand, Hrithik was all attitude (picture on left by Aranya Sen). “It’s always nice to be in Calcutta,” smiled Mr Debonair. “This place runs in my blood. After all, my grandmother (Ira Roshan) was from here. So, it’s easier for people here to love me and me to love them.”