Film's promotional gig with Indian Railways off to bumpy start; makers compelled to cancel photo-op at Borivali station after fans throng platform despite security
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; October 17, 2019)

On Wednesday, Akshay Kumar and the Housefull 4 cast kicked off Indian Railways' plan, Promotion On Wheels, which sees them partnering with studios and enabling them to use the trains to promote their films. The superstar joined Kriti Sanon, Bobby Deol, Riteish Deshmukh and others at Borivali station at 4 pm where the eight-coach Delhi-bound train — adorned with posters of their Diwali release — awaited them. The stars were to be accompanied by fans and media persons as the special train made its way to Delhi, halting at Surat, Vadodara and Kota. So far, so good.

However, the stars' multitude of fans played spoilsport in their plans. As soon as word spread that the stars would be arriving at Borivali station, a sea of fans thronged the venue. While cops had barricaded the area anticipating huge crowds, it did little to dampen their excitement. mid-day has learnt that the makers of the ensemble comedy altered their plans on seeing the commotion at the railway station. A source close to the project reveals, "The entire star cast was to do a photo-op with select fans on the platform. However, on reaching the venue, they unanimously decided to drop the plan and instead headed directly to their designated coach."

This is not the first time that a Bollywood plan has gone off rails. In 2017, Shah Rukh Khan took the Mumbai-Delhi August Kranti Rajdhani to promote Raees. One person died of suffocation as 15,000 people turned up at Vadodara station to catch a glimpse of Khan.

Fortunately, it was a smooth ride thereon to Surat for Housefull 4 team as they interacted with fans on board and regaled them with their travel tales.


Akshay Kumar at platform 10 of Borivali station






Beefed-up security controls the crowd at Borivali station