John Abraham mobbed by thousands of girls

May 29, 2008 NR

Mumbai, May 29 (IANS) The unconventionally planned music release of "Aashayein" turned out to be far more unusual than planned. After John Abraham sang the number he had diligently rehearsed, the girls forced him and the band back on stage for more.

"It was simply crazy. I think we underestimated John's pull and his pursuit of excellence. I thought he'd come on stage croon a few lines, shake his hips in tight trousers, blow kisses and melt into the night. No way," Elahi Hiptoolah, executive producer of "Aashayein", told IANS.

"John arrived at 3 in the afternoon for the technical rehearsal. By the time the evening came, he was fully prepared. And so was the audience. It was all calm peaceful and romantic with a 3,000-strong audience waiting quietly by the seaside," she added.

The event took place Wednesday at the Heritage Property in Bandra, and Elahi says that they were not aware of the fact that the music launch of "Love Story 2050" is also taking place.

"We hadn't planned a big music launch and we certainly had no clue there was another music launch the same evening. We just wanted to do something different. So we thought of making all the singers including John perform their tracks from 'Aashayein' live on stage. We never thought there would be such a massive turn-out, or that John would take his first live performance so seriously."

"John sang 'Ab mujhko jeena'. There was a deathly silence and then the roar 'Once more, once more' began until it grew in to a deafening crescendo. Salim-Suleiman's band had already packed up and left. They had to be called back to unzip their equipment and accompany John's singing."

Yes, John sang an encore on the audiences' request. The other surprise of the evening - director Nagesh Kukunoor joined John for impromptu singing and the audience had got more than what they had bargained for.

The film is about a compulsive gambler and set to release next month.

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Aashayein