Actor Bipasha Basu has quite a few fans, but she never expected this. The actor was shooting for a significant sequence for the Abbas-Mustan film Players in Moscow, Russia, a few months ago, when she received some surprising information. Apparently, a group of Russian soldiers were in the vicinity of the shooting location.

And when they found out that a Bollywood movie was being filmed around the corner, they landed up and expressed their desire to meet the Bollywood actor. “We were all surprised that the soldiers were even aware of Bollywood films and our song-and-dance routines. They had also heard of Bipasha and some of her films. So, they wanted to meet her. And Bipasha was also game for it,” says a unit member, who has worked on the film.

Apparently, Bipasha even bonded with the soldiers, who told her all about their love for Bollywood films. Interestingly, they had also seen Bipasha’s hit numbers like Beedi Jalaile… and Billo Rani…. When contacted, Bipasha, who plays Rhea, an automobile expert in the film, sounded happy.

“Yes, we were shooting for the film and suddenly, I got a request to meet Russian soldiers, who were very keen to see me. I was taken aback for a bit, because I didn’t know they were familiar with my name or work. But at the end of the day, it was a humbling experience.”

Players, the official remake of the Hollywood hit The Italian Job, has been extensively shot in New Zealand, Russia and India among other places. The heist caper also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Sonam Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Omi Vaidya among others.