Bipasha behaved like an awe-struck teenager when she met Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in Lisbon.
It doesn’t get better than this. Bipasha Basu, who co-hosted the grand event at Lisbon last Saturday to reveal the new Seven Wonders of the World, is back in Mumbai. And it is not so much the Taj Mahal she wants to talk about – despite the monument making to the new list by popular demand – as much as Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo! The Bong bombshell was the toast of the event in Lisbon. She had the experience of a lifetime.
While the Manchester United striker played court to her all evening, Oscar winners Sir Ben Kingsley and Hillary Swank too came under Bipasha’s charms, and by the time she left for home – the Bollywood actress had a new set of swish international celeb friends. Bipasha tells the story: “I was proud to announce Taj in the new list of Seven Wonders of the World. Everyone there were such easy-going and warm people. We struck great friendships and I want to cherish this for a lifetime.” Sir Ben compared her to Hollywood’s original sex goddess, the Italian diva Sophia Loren. And agreeing with him was the former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, who also found an uncanny resemblance to Loren in Bipasha.
“Sir Ben was very helpful,” says Bipasha. If tomorrow she makes it big in Hollywood, she’ll know whom to thank. “Sir Ben guided me how to get there. I already have a few meetings lined up. Let’s see, if some good role comes my way, I shall think about it. I will certainly not do any tidbit roles just to get into Hollywood,” she firmly says. Hillary Swank, Bips found to be very unassuming, sweet and warm. “When my luggage didn’t arrive, Hillary lent me an outfit for the evening. But when my bags came and Hillary saw my dress, she complimented me saying this outfit suited me better and that I looked really beautiful ,” reveals Bipasha.

And then there was Ronaldo, God’s gift to women, with whom Bipasha behaved like an awe-struck teenager. “Meeting him was a dream come true. I am a big fan of his. And I was totally floored by the way he kept showering me with praises all the time. It was very flattering. After the event, we went out clubbing, and that was simply fantastic,” recalls Bips.

“Ronaldo said he loved Bollywood films. But I laughed, thinking he was just being sweet. However, he surprised me by taking out his cellphone and playing the song Tujhse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi from Masoom. He loves this song,” laughs Bips. “He then introduced me to his mother, who is a big Bollywood fan, and she swore that Ronaldo was a Bollywood deewana!”

Back in Mumbai now with a trunkful of pleasant and thrilling memories, the lucky, star-struck actress is determined to keep in touch with her new friends regularly. “I am planning to send across some DVDs of my films and some other good Hindi films to Ronaldo. He said he wants to see them,” blushes Bipasha.