Mamta Narula, Sanjiv Pandya

It was just a phone call.

It happened a while ago. But ask me to relive it, and I will -- moment by thrilling moment.

My colleague Sanjiv and I were at our recording studio at Radio EBC, the first 24-hour, seven-days-a-week desi radio station in New Jersey, USA.

We were praying hard that we would get lucky -- to speak to the badshah of Hindi films, Shah Rukh Khan. He was scheduled to be in town for a concert.

We didn't have to wait long. Within a couple of minutes, we got his phone number.

Then the question was, who would call him? We were both nervous. Both looked at each other.

Finally, Sanjiv picked up the phone and dialled the magical number.

"Who's this...?" comes the answer.

I was sitting upright, with my fingers crossed, muttering, "He bhagwan, Shah Rukh se baat ho jaye." I left the studio to get some fresh air.

When I got back, Sanjiv tells me, "Hey, Mam, we have to call Shah Rukh in the next 10 minutes." We hurried to get our instruments, music and our opening speech ready in those 10 minutes.

And it was time. Sanjiv introduced me to Shah Rukh.

He said, very politely, "Hi Mamta. How are you?"

I was nervous. But he made me feel so comfortable that I knew we had made a good start.

The interview began. Sanjiv and I had prepared a special speech. It went something like this: Aaj se kareeb gyarah saal pehle, ek Fauji hum sabke saamne aaya. Aur aate hi kehne laga ki dilwale dulhania le jayenge. Ab is Deewane ki deewangi dekhkar humko to laga Darr. Par maloom pada ki kuch hi samay main yeh Baazigar ab ban gaya tha gentleman.

"Jab woh bana gentleman, to humara dil to pagal ho gaya. Aur hum kehte rehte hain yes boss, yes boss. Bhai inko dekhkar humein to kuch kuch hota hai. Ek baat to hai yeh jo kehta hai, wo kehta hai dil se. Arre, chahe kuch bhi ho, phir bhi iska dil hai hindustani!

We congratulated Shah Rukh on two achievements: On completing 10 years in the industry. And the birth of his daughter, Suhana.

A very emotional "Thank you," from Shah Rukh later, it was time to roll the interview.

How were preparations for his concert, we asked. "We have to really rehearse a lot. There is lot of hard work and pain that goes into making this concert tour possible. This time, we are planning to have a different entry on stage. We need to chalk out certain technical aspects of the show, because I will make an entry with lot of Fire coming out of my whole body, eyes, nose, ears, face, etc. It will go on to my first performance -- a medley of songs."

What does he feel about acting? "I just love to act -- be it movies, teleserials, commercials... I'm open to any medium that gives me an opportunity to act. It gives me a lot of satisfaction, because that's always been my hobby."

Which begged my next question: We've seen Shah Rukh on television and the silver screen. We know he is very talented.

But what prompted him to try his vocal chords in the film, Josh?

"Oh No, not again!" he groaned. "Please don't make me sing the song for you now.

"You know Mamta, last night, Juhi, Sushmita and Namrata came to me and sad, 'Will you stop this?' You see, I sing Apun bola at at all my shows. And they just got tired of hearing me!

But we insisted. Finally, he relented: "Apun bola tu meri laila, wo boli phektai saala…"

I couldn't stop myself. Before Shah Rukh could finish his lines, I joined him: "Yeh uska style hoinga, hoton pe na dil main haan hoinga."

Shah Rukh joined me, "Aaj nahin to kal maanegi, (tu) tension kaiku leta re..."

Our next question was to ask him to give a message for all our kids, since we get many requests from kids requesting us to play Chhaiya chhaiya on our radio station.

Shah Rukh said, "Well, through my portal, www.srkworld.com, kids can get in touch with me, meet me, write to me... We offer a lot of games, competitions, quiz contests, etc including some serious information on the Hindi film industry."

It was time to call it wraps.

Shah Rukh said, to our listeners, "Keep listening to Mamta. She is very sweet. Keep listening to Sanjiv. He is very cool."

Our day was made.

What we cherish most is that he was most unlike what we thought a megastar would be. His voice was soft and soothing. He made us comfortable, he helped us get rid of our nervousness. What a showman.

And if we needed any more confirmation that he is indeed a star, the response to our show was to be seen to be believed!