I’m shamelessly eavesdropping on the table behind me. Partly because I overhear the name “Farhan Akthar,” and I’ve been given strict instructions by our movie correspondent to keep a sharp lookout for the Rock On!! 2 crew. Partly because it’s my first day in Shillong and I’m eating lunch alone. But mostly because they’re really loud, and really entertaining.
I’ve walked to Cafe Shillong on a grey, cold and rainy day, propelled by rave reviews on Trip Advisor. So I’m not particularly impressed when I push the door open and walk into a small, smoky space, dominated by a large flat screen TV playing Adele and a solitary hanging electric guitar.
On my left, six bored British tourists sit in silence, tapping relentlessly on their phones and iPads. As a waiter ambles over with my lunch, the noisy gang begins arguing about precisely how to layer clothes when they shoot in the cold. “The problem is your skinny jeans,” says the sole male in the group. “If they weren’t so tight, you’d be able to wear thermals underneath.” The girls protest vociferously, then suddenly fall silent as another group of five enters the cafe.
Between air kisses, they ask the waiter — who has been leaning on a nearby wall and watching the action with a bemused expression — for a big table. He looks around and then comes to what he considers a logical conclusion. “Madam, please move,” he mutters, pointing at the next table. “Then I can join these two.”
Before he finishes his sentence, the new crowd pounces on him. “No. No. You can’t ask someone who’s halfway through her lunch to move,” says the girl, who’s clearly embarrassed. The rest jump into the debate with gusto, tut tutting with dismay. Then they all politely apologise to me, one by one, before finding another table. Including a startlingly good looking, and strangely familiar man.
The gang I was eavesdropping on swivel their chairs and look at me companionably. “Is that Arjun Rampal?” I stage whisper. “Yeah. And the girl is Shraddha Kapoor,” they chuckle, before adding, “We are the crew.”
Rampal immediately calls for momos, thukpa and plates of chilli pork. I sneakily Google him on my phone and realise why he looks different — he’s lost weight for this role, making him look even more angular and brooding than ever before. Kapoor is bouncing about chirpily, in spectacles, jeans and what looks like a bright pink Fitbit Flex on her wrist. They yell cheerfully at each other across the cafe. While they wait for their food, the entire cast goes out to the balcony to take a group selfie amid squeals and giggles.
As the food arrives, so do the fans. A gaggle of breathless girls gather around Rampal’s table, while more collect at the cafe door. The gang of Brits, who were till now completely disinterested, sit up and gesture, “Who are they?” to me. “Movie stars,” I mouth, as discreetly as I can, despite Rampal and Kapoor being well within elbowing distance. They persist. “Names?” I roll my eyes. “Can't yell. They’ll hear,” I whisper hoarsely. So one of them runs across and sticks his ear in my face. “Arjun Rampal,” I sigh wearily. He writes it down, scurries back to his seat, and they all get on Google.
“ Rock On!! 2 huh?” I ask the crew, who now feel like old friends. “Yeah. We’ve been here for weeks,” says one of the girls, pointing at a building across the road. “We are staying there, so we eat at Shillong Cafe all the time. We know the menu by heart now.” They proceed to tell me exactly where to go and what to see in Meghalaya. “We’ve been shooting all over; we were at the Mawphlang sacred groves recently. They’re stunning.”
We’re distracted by the cafe door being pushed open again by a heaving crowd of excited fans. They squeal in unison and charge towards Rampal, waving phones in anticipation of a rash of selfies. A good time as any to leave, I think, and quietly slide out, waving goodbye to the crew and the Brits.
The waiter heaves a sigh of relief. Finally, he can join those tables.
