It was meant to be a private party and the media were not allowed. But if the guest of honour is legendary athlete Carl Lewis, can the media resist?

"Excuse me," said a shocked Lewis. "I have come to meet friends. Please switch off your cameras!"

Soon, the film personalities like [producer] Aly Moorani, [director] N Chandra, and [television host and comedian] Sajid Khan arrived.

Khan was amazed with Lewis's knowledge of Bollywood. "I was introduced to him as the brother of Farah Khan, who choreographed the Broadway show, Bombay Dreams," Khan said. "And he immediately replied, 'Yes, I know it was running on Broadway. Unfortunately, I could not see it'.

"He also asked about our films and how things work in our [Hindi film] industry. He was very inquisitive."

Chandra added, "He spoke to me about his films. He has done three films and his fourth, Tournament Of Dreams, is in post-production. I also told him about my future projects. I told him about a film on Indira Gandhi that I want to make. He was listening quite attentively."

Lewis himself declined to talk to the media. "I will talk to the media in a day or two," he said. "But not now. I am here for some time and will surely meet up with you later."