Kochi is mostly Sunny today — that’s the phrase hogging every Keralites timeline at the moment. But no one’s actually talking about the 29 °C weather. Thousands flocked to M G Road — and eventually brought traffic to a complete standstill — for a glimpse of Bollywood icon Sunny Leone. The American-Canadian-Indian actor and model is in town today for the store inauguration of a mobile phone retail chain.
Though Malayalis have showcased their love for Bollywood before—think back to 2011 when King Khan caused a massive traffic jam on National Highway 47 during a clothing store inauguration at Edapally—it’s obvious that Kerala couldn’t get enough of the Laila Main Laila star. Besides folks lining the roads like vacuum-packed sardines in a can, there are visuals (currently spreading like wildfire via WhatsApp) of people haphazardly climbing on the rooftops of moving buses, frenzied fans climbing up the terrace of the LIC building nearby. Kochi Metro workers were also seen taking advantage of their vantage point above the venue. The police eventually had to administer multiple lathi-charges to control the throbbing horde.
#Kochi also became a trending topic on Twitter minutes after Sunny tweeted “No words...Can't thank the people of Kochi.Was so overwhelmed by the love & support. Never will forget Gods own Country Kerala! Thank you #fone4”. This was quickly followed by the actor sharing an image of her car arriving at the venue while thanking her dedicated fans by saying,“My car is literally in a sea of love in Kochi.” In fact, the entrepreneur has been surrounded by well-wishers from the moment she got off her flight at Cochin International airport in the morning.
We caught up with a few long-time fans of Sunny Leone, one of whom applied for leave and flew down from on off-shore drilling rig just to see the actor in person. “I was in town when prime minister Narendra Modi came to Kochi to inaugurate the Kochi metro. There were hardly 10-12 at Kaloor junction as his entourage passed by. Today, as Sunny chechi arrived, the only time I witnessed crowds part was to let a few ambulances pass through. Even SRK didn’t get such a rousing welcome,” shares J Varghese.