Jackky Bhagnani meets Malala Yousafzai

A tweet cemented this friendship. Following the announcement of Malala Yousafzai as last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jackky Bhagnani tweeted: "Such good news to hear about MASALA and the noble peace prize." One autocorrect can cause a lifetime of troll. Despite owning up to the mistake, the actor found it impossible to live it down.

"Whenever I would speak up for a cause, at least four-five people would remind me that I couldn't spell Malala right and so had no right to teach. That I was a producer's (Vashu Bhagnani) son also went against me," reminisces Jackky, speaking to Mirror from New York.

Anxious to make amends, he made a video in which he not only accepted his faux paus, but went on to educate people on who Malala was. He wanted her to see it and sent it to her on her birthday. She loved it, they spoke over the phone and he was invited to visit her family in Birmingham. There they told him about the documentary, He Named Me Malala, and invited him to the premiere. Jackky was at New York's Ziegfild Theatre on Thursday as Malala's personal guest and walked the red carpet with Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson.

"When I told Scarlett that I was an actor from India, she said she'd love to do a Bollywood film. I told her she could make one with me," he laughs.

Jackky acknowledges that while most documentaries can get dry and boring, this one is moving and inspiring. "It's like a film which in 90 minutes tells you who Malala is, why the name, where she came from, what happened to her, her father's role and present goals. Her relationship with her brothers reminds me of the equation I share with my sister, Honey, and the fights we had growing up," he says, having woken up early to take our call.

Quiz him on Malala and he says she is a normal teen, an 18 year old who's very real when she talks about causes from the heart, and then turns into a kid. "She loves pink. I gifted her a pink shawl and gave her mother another, which she liked better. The shawls kept going back and forth between them," he chuckles, adding that she's a Bollywood fan. "Besides me, she loves Shah Rukh Khan. She's watched my film Youngistaan and like everyone else loves 'Suno Na Sangemarmar'."

He's touched by the love and respect he got from her "simple, humble family". In Birmingham they fed him Afghani kebabs and in New York, despite a UN commitment, kept half an hour aside for him before he flew out to India.

"This was my journey too as I, as an individual, have been struggling to find my own identity. I was in New York, all alone, and they made me feel at home and part of the family," Jackky says emotionally.

"I've told them that when they visit India, I'd love to host them."