Bipasha mobbed

Star crazy fans vying with each other to have a 'dekko' of or an audience with a film star is nothing new for these inhabitants of 'tinselville'.

However, the mob hysteria witnessed on the arrival of Bipasha Basu following her arrival to inaugurate a store here caught the Bollywood star unawares.

As Bipasha arrived here to inaugurate a new store of P P Jewellers at Gurudwara road here yesterday, she was greeted by almost a ''sea of humanity'' wanting to have just one glimpseof the glamorous star, who has earned a huge fan following for herself following her portrayals in 'Jism' and 'Raaz'.

Utter chaos prevailed at the venue with hundreds of people, gathered at the venue, crowded her car, jostling with one another for a glimpse of the star.

In their eagerness to have a glimpse of the star, they pushed and shoved at her car, forcing the star to remain ensconsed in her vehicle for close to half an hour.

Even when the securitymen cleared the crowd to enable Bipasha to get on to the stage to do the inauguration, the crowd headed for the stage to get 'close glimpse' of the star, making the venue resemble a stage of some public rally. The state of affairs remained the same for a long time forcing Bipasha to cut her programme short and leave the venue.

In fact, as news that Bipasha was to inaugurate the store got around, hundreds of people began lining the streets of Gurudwara road since noon. By the time, Bipasha arrived at a half past two, more than two hours behind her scheduled arrival time, the crowd had swelled to thousands which perhaps led to the 'utter chaos'.

This is the second time in recent weeks that the arrival of Bollywood stars has witnessed a mob frenzy. Last month, a crowd of hundreds of star-crazy fans had created utter chaos when film stars Anupam Kher, Urmila Matondkar and Parvin Dabas descended on Rajghat for the promotion of Kher's new film 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara'