Fan following: Celebrities talk about crazy experiences with their admirers

What are fans without celebrities? And what are celebrities without fans? They both complete each other and are almost incomplete without each other! But fans do go the extra mile and sometimes in an unpleasant way, just to please their favourite public figure. Celebrities share their experiences...

Selfie trouble

Sara Khan

This happens with me most of the time now, but, earlier, when it happened for the first time, I felt a little awkward when a fan asked me to click a selfie for them. That made me feel weird and I politely asked them to click for themselves!

Sweet followers

Delnaaz Irani

I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful fans all around the world. I remember there was a sweet teenage girl from Delhi and another fan from Scotland. She used to reach out through Instagram, messaging my team to get in touch with me. She was so head-over heels about my work! I’m lucky to have a global fan following, and I’m incredibly grateful for it. I haven’t had any extreme or crazy fan encounters — most have been incredibly sweet, sending thoughtful gifts, blessings and heartfelt messages. While I haven’t had any wild fan stories, I’m grateful for the wonderful, supportive fans I have.

All in good spirit

Dipshikkha Naggpal

I have so many crazy fan stories! Almost everyone who meets me says, ‘I had a crush on you when I was younger’, and sometimes they look like uncles! But it’s all in good spirit, and the selfie trend definitely makes things interesting. One time, a fan came up to me and wanted to recreate a scene I had completely forgotten about. He was such a big fan that he even acted it out with enthusiasm. Then there was this woman who approached me, saying, “My husband is a huge fan of yours; please take a photo with us!” She even directed me, saying, ‘Stand right next to him; put your hand on his shoulder — don’t worry, I won’t mind!’ It was amusing how precise her instructions were!

Scary, yet fun

Deekshha Sonalkar Tham

A couple of years ago I was shooting for my show Hasmukh at the airport in Lucknow. Although a section of the airport was cleared for the actors to walk to and from the vanity, there was a crowd that hovered there. After we packed up, I was being escorted by security guard back to the vanity to avoid the crowd, but somehow people still managed to squeeze their way in to get selfies. There was so much chaos that my make-up artist, who was walking with me, had to pull a luggage trolley and asked me to get on it. And she pushed through the crowd straight to the vanity! It was a scary experience to see so many people together, but it was also fun to be pushed on the trolley.

Pure love

Aadesh Chaudhary

As an actor, I’ve had the privilege of meeting many enthusiastic fans, but one experience stands out. During a fan meet-and-greet, a young girl, shaking with excitement, asked for a selfie. As we posed, she burst into tears, overwhelmed by emotion. Her tears turned into smiles when I hugged her and autographed her favourite dialogue.