BHPian Dippy recently shared this with other enthusiasts: It’s been 14 years since Top Gear did their Christmas Special shoot in India, and everyone went bonkers. There is even a forum thread on it, where a few BHPians got a chance to meet the trio and click a picture or two at various locations. Here is the episode on YouTube: Video: Link The day was 3rd October 2011, and word was already around that the Top Gear team was shooting across various locations in Mumbai. I was really keen to meet them, and while finding them in the city was like finding a needle in a haystack, I still decided to give it a go. I got to know the hotel they were staying in, so I landed up at Novotel in Juhu in my Type 2 Honda City at 8 am in the morning, only to be told that they had already left for shooting. So, what next? Where do I go? I decided to just drive along the Western Express Highway towards South Mumbai and see if I could find them. I stopped at Bandra Reclamation to call a friend to join me, and while I was on the phone, a camera crew truck went past me to the Sea Link, followed by a Jaguar XJS. I knew that was Clarkson after seeing the picture posted on the forum the previous day. I hung up and decided to follow. I ended up in the toll lane right next to Clarkson and waved out to him. He replied with his trademark ‘Oh, hello’. He sped off after the toll gate, and I followed him. It started raining out of nowhere, and I could see that he was completely drenched. I guess the Jag’s AC wasn’t working. We ended up in a traffic jam at Haji Ali, with me being right behind the XJS. Then one of the guys from the camera crew truck came up to my window. He requested a couple of tissues for Clarkson since he got wet from the unexpected rain. I handed him the entire box and asked him where they were headed. He said they were going to shoot at Churchgate station and that I could follow them if I wanted. Who am I to say no? I followed Clarkson and the team all through Peddar Road and Marine Drive (you can see my car in multiple shots in the episode) to finally stop outside the Churchgate railway station. I parked my car, said hello to the crew, and then went up to Clarkson. While I initially thought he might have an attitude, it was quite the opposite. He greeted me with a handshake and a hug, and before anything else, I got my picture taken with him. Post that, it was all about car talk. We spoke about different Top Gear episodes, how they were shot, his thoughts on India, and other things. It was still sinking in that here I was chatting up with THE Jeremy Clarkson. We ended up chatting for more than an hour. They were waiting for Hammond, who arrived later. I didn’t really get to talk to him much, just 5-6 minutes and a picture. James May was missing since he was reaching Mumbai Central station directly. I stayed on to watch the shoot sequence where Hammond rams the Mini into the Jaguar and the banter that followed later. Most onlookers didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. With no Bollywood celebs around, they were quite surprised to see the excitement on my face. Post the sequence shoot, the crew left for Mumbai Central station, from where they would be boarding a train to Jaipur. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my ‘Clarkson’s Motorworld’ book on me at that time, so I managed an autograph on a piece of paper. And just like that, a random day turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life. Not to mention my ex-Honda City MH01 MA 1402 became quite a celeb. Got so many calls about spotting it in the episode. Signing off with a few random pictures taken that day. Thanks for reading. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
