Apurba and his fans

Every celebrity attracts attention -- sometimes it's positive, sometimes it nears madness. Many of these stories remain untold. Popular actor Apurba lifted the lid on several memorable incidents in his career, which he recently shared with The Daily Star:
Once I was on my way to Pantapath's UTC Bhaban for a shooting; I got stuck in bad traffic near Karwan Bazar. A boy approached me and claimed he was a huge fan. He asked for my cell phone number, which I declined to offer. But the boy -- in a fit of craziness -- lay down under my car. A crowd soon formed, as we all kept trying to make him understand that it wouldn't be possible for me to give him my phone number. This incident created a long tailback behind my car. After a long time, I was finally able to convince him to give up and leave the scene.
In a separate incident in Bikrampur, I was out at a location to shoot for the drama “Khuje Berai Taare”. Humayun Faridee was with our unit. Thousands of people gathered to watch us shoot. We met them after lunch, but they demanded that unless we talk to them and take pictures with them all, they wouldn't let us shoot. I've seen big crowds before, but the Bikrampur crowd was larger than I had ever seen. Eventually, Humayun Faridee and I were able to convince them to allow us to shoot. I still recall that incident, as it made me realise the intensity of the audiences' interest towards the artistes.
Another unforgettable incident took place during a shooting at Bandarban. I went into the water for a scene, but soon realised that I had lost my footing. I was concerned, but no one in the unit understood what had happened. I kept struggling to stay afloat and tried desperately to find something to hold on to. As I went under water, I kept thinking about my mother and how I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her. Luckily, an actor named Iqbal realised that I was drowning; he pulled me up and dragged me to the shore. Thank God that Iqbal saved me on that occasion.