Nidhi Taparia in Pune

A little bylane. Traffic is at a total standstill.

Not that the large reserves of police personnel deployed are successful in bringing about control.

Because, you know, Hrithik Roshan is here...

In Pune, more specifically, at the Pantaloons showroom, on the sets of Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, -- as in most parts of the country -- just the name Hrithik is enough to induce riots these days.

The security, though, is tight, courtesy Ronit Roy. And yes, you are right, if the name rang a faint tinkle -- Roy is, indeed, the television artiste, now turned security expert.

"We have been delayed by a couple of hours because Hrithik's flight came in late. The shoot that was start off at 10 am started at 1 pm," rues production controller L J Watkins.

A member of Rakesh Roshan's unit, Watkins is around to make sure things sail smoothly on the sets of Yash Chopra's protégé Arjun Sablok's first directorial stint before the camera.

Having shot an outdoor in Canada followed by a couple of days in Bombay's Filmistan, the unit has an eight-day schedule in Pune.

On what he has seen of the film, Watkins remarks, "It is a soft love story with Esha (Deol), Hrithik and Saif (Ali Khan).

"I think Esha and Hrithik look better on screen than Hrithik and Amisha (Patel, of Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai). Their on screen chemistry and the way they look with each other is very interesting."

Twenty little cherubs with their parents in tow are getting to ready to play their part at a kiddie party. The shoot was due to start at 6 pm. Past 8 pm, there is no sign of the shots being canned...

The coordinator, Vijay, keeps urging parents and the kids to keep the good cheer on. "I have no clue what the scene is all about. I just know that I had to bring 20 cute kids with their parents. They are shooting another scene in two days, where I have to get 100 people partying at Club Polaris."

Understandably, the kids are looking wilted. But mention Hrithik a few times and out come the plastic smiles on the ready.

A flurry of activity. "Ek baby idhar leke aao!" (Bring one child here) yells cinematographer Natarajan.

Enters Hrithik, in a light mauve polo neck sweater.

Ensues a loud roar and cheers from the crowd. Excitement levels are so high that three kids fall off into a canal and hurt their heads. But no one's really paying attention to them...

Meanwhile, the script writer and assistant director, Pratibha Acharya, requests the crowd to be silent so the shot can be canned. To no avail.

Hrithik mouths his dialogue into a cellphone, "Ma, main tujhse kuch kehna chahta hoon." (Mother, I want to tell you something.)

It isn't a take. He rehearses it again. He's not sure where exactly to focus his eyes because the kids are yelling from the porch below and on the balcony level, the crowd growing berserk are demanding his attention.

One take after another. Arjun Sablok isn't too happy.

Hrithik keeps rehearsing, all the time checking his makeup, hair and tugging at his polo-necked sweater. Makeup, hair, mirror, cellphone...

A little girl whispers, "He is so conscious, no?"

Another counters, "I think he should have worn a half-sleeved shirt. Then his muscles would have been seen."

"Why is he taking so long to say one line?" yet another kid wants to know.

Hrithik, for his part, seems apprehensive in front of the crowd. And goes back to mouthing his line.

Finally it is a take. And as the lights are switched off, the crowd makes its disappointment known loudly.

Ask the unit boys how it is shooting with Arjun Sablok, and they voice diplomatically, "Each set is different. There is a lot of discipline and control on a Yash Chopra set. A Sooraj Barjatya film is usually shot totally indoors. This one is different.

"Sometimes, actors make all the difference. If you have Amitabh Bachchan on the sets, there will be pin-drop silence and work will happen in whispers. But here..."

Ask about Esha and her work in the film, and everybody says, "She seems to be comfortable in front of the camera, but one cannot really say anything till the final product is out."

Talk shifts to how uncomfortable Esha gets when Hema Malini drops on the sets. Or even how Esha had gone across to meet Sunny Deol when he was shooting in the next studio in their schedule in Bombay even as Hemaji sat in Esha's makeup room and did not accompany her.

One unit member declares, "I think these filmi families are very different!"

Back to film. The next shot is action-packed.

Hrithik and Shilarna Vaze (Esha's best friend in the film and, incidentally, in real life, too) are trying to persuade Esha to go to a nightclub.

It is ten minutes past nine. Tempers are frayed.

And Esha has forgotten her shoes in the van.

Rehearsal time. Three girls walk out of the mall with shopping bags.

Achala Sachdev, Shilarna and Esha emerge. Esha is holding a plate with a diya and an aarti. Shilarna is pleading with her to go partying for a little while, followed by Hrithik who adds his own bit.

Arjun isn't happy. Asks Shilarana to pump in more energy into her pleading and likewise with Esha and Hrithik.

Finally, it is a take.

And Hrithik picks up the microphone to speak to the crowd: "Aap ko dikhayi de raha hain? App itni der se khade hain. (Can you all see anything? You have been waiting here so long). Aren't you all bored? I love you all!"