How Hrithik stopped traffic in New York

He ran half a mile across the busy 42nd Street to meet his fans at the 'Kites' premiere

Hrithik Roshan proved a real traffic-stopper when he sprinted across 42nd Street in New York to meet his eager fans gathered for the premiere of his much-talked about film 'Kites'.

When Hrithik along with his co-star Barbara Mori, director Anurag Basu, wife Sussanne, parents Rakesh and Pinky Roshan, and other members of the team reached Times Square on May 16, he was told to wave out to hordes of Indian fans who had been standing on the other side of the street since morning for a glimpse of the star.

The star made a dash across the bustling street from the venue of the premiere to eager fans across the road.

"Hrithik did indeed dash across the 42nd Street from our red carpet to waiting fans across the road. And we aren't about crossing just any busy street at peak hour. The 42nd Street is a gigantic universe. Hrithik ran across a good half a mile to get to his fans," Sanjeev Lamba of Reliance Big Pictures told IANS.

Hrithik's considerate gesture towards fans at the premiere created panic for the tense and anxious 'Kites' team.

"We had to halt all traffic on 42nd Street for Hrithik to cross. So we can finally say Hrithik is the first traffic-stopper from Bollywood to make the crossover," said Lamba.

Not just a dash across the busiest street to meet his fans, Hrithik and his dad also made impromptu arrangements for about 500 fans to be accommodated in an extra screen at the AMC Empire theatre.

Rakesh Roshan said: "What could we do? There were 400-500 of Hrithik's fans who wanted to see the film. There were women crying, girls tearing their hair and threatening to commit suicide."

In addition to the 700-seater at the AMC Empire theatre, a smaller 500-seater screener was rented for extra fans at the last minute.