On an earlier shopping expedition around Covent Garden Roshan estimates that he was recognised at least once

On an earlier shopping expedition around Covent Garden, Roshan estimates that he was recognised “at least once every two minutes” and, to avoid being mobbed, resorted to donning the regulation disguise of hat and sunglasses.”I’ve yet to adjust to the attention,” he says in his hotel room near Piccadilly “It takes me by surprise every day I have to remember that I’m this big star. In the past four years he has prompted Elvis-style levels of hysteria among the cinema-going public. While excitable critics have compared his dance routines to those of Michael Jackson, his press release gushingly calls him “the Brad Pitt of Bollywood”.
That he has two thumbs sprouting from the side of his right hand is considered not a blemish but an auspicious symbol, indicating prosperity and good luck.Roshan is here to promote the first Sangeet Music Awards, an event celebrating Hindi music, from classical and film soundtracks to commercial pop, which takes place in London at the end of this week and where he will be performing a song from last year’s blockbuster, Koi.. Mil Gaya Clearly, it’s not just in India that he is a star. But in India, where 12 million people go to the cinema every day, he is an emerald-eyed, tousled-haired demi-god; a man who, were he to venture out on to the streets of his native Mumbai undisguised, is liable to cause a traffic pile-up.

If you’re not yet acquainted with the kitsch, kaleidoscopic song-and-dance extravaganzas that are Bollywood films, you may not know the name Hrithik Roshan. The arrival of the wooden horse like Disney on Parade at a Republican rally might also be an indication of history about to repeat itself To 5 October (020-7632 8300). Her emotional journey was laid bare for all to be humbled by. She was well complemented by the some- times alarming contralto colour of Anna Burford as her sister Anna and the bullish bass of Clive Bayley as her minister Narbal. Plaudits, too, for Mark Padmore as the homesick sailor Hylas, though his beautiful number is still – like so much of this score – disproportionate to its dramatic purpose.I’d be interested to see how this co-production with San Francisco Opera goes down there. Most clients fall into one of three categories: those who are retiring, relocating their families or searching for a second home, but outside that, everyone is different. The challenge here is to find a large property close to the beach, a school, and a village where other ex-pats and educated locals live for a modest budget of £160,000.”It’s clear that Min is a sociable person and needs the company of others.

She’s also used to her own space in Penedes, and an edge-of-village location seems to be the best option – it will give her more land per euro and be excellent for walking the dogs. Alice needs space to play in and to be close to her village pals.”Our brief, therefore, is an edge-of-village home, under half an hour from the coast where investment prospects and schools are good and where her budget will realistically stretch This isn’t easy. In the last three or four years, prices have doubled and it is not uncommon for four-bedroom, two-bathroom detached villas with around half an acre of land to fetch a minimum of £200,000-£250,000 On the coast this figure can be double. Edge-of-village locations are often very popular and well-priced property does not stay on the market for long.”Min does not have the many relocation problems that we deal with on a daily basis, such as the need to sort out paperwork for ID numbers, open bank accounts and find doctors, as she is already battle-scarred from her forays into Catalonian bureaucracy.”There are areas that are still good value, such as Murcia town itself, near the river towards Cehegin, and the inland area around Aspe, but I know that Min has received a job offer in Fuente Alamo. This makes the search more complicated, as property prices have recently surged there because of new development and the building of a new motorway.”Most of the property in this area is resale rather than new or off-plan, and the housing stock isn’t particularly good. Many houses have been hastily done up and are Spanish in style with small windows to keep the heat out, thick stone walls and bars on the windows. Characterful houses with nice gardens are rare, and to find them you often have to go to the local bar and find out who is selling, which is what we’ve done here.”Andrew Lupton works for Stacks Property Search & Acquisition, Spain (0871 871 4687, ) THE SOLUTION Property one: La PinillaPrice: £165,000.Agent’s details: A recently renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom property on the edge of La Pinilla village, the house has a swimming-pool, asun terrace and a barn It has a quiet position, and has been tastefully decorated.

The house is close to local amenities and only 20 minutes drive away from the coast.Property two: Los Santos, La Pinilla, MurciaPrice: €240,000.Agent’s details: This five-bedroom, two-bathroom property has been recently renovated and sits in a hamlet of seven houses with mountain views Access is down a 750m dirt track. Likewise her betrothed, Robert Poulton’s ineffectual Chorebus. A bigger problem was John Daszak’s Aeneas, looking solid but sounding desperately insecure, especially when set against Sarah Connolly’s majestic Dido in their eternal “night of love”.Connolly was by a mile the star of the show, regal of countenance, generous of phrase and tone and just so much inside the skin of this lady. How untimely is that.Musically, Paul Daniel and his chorus and orchestra make quite a fist of the score Some of the cast – variable, to say the least – do not. I had problems with Susan Bickley’s underprojected Cassandra, prophet of doom in a suit and pearls. Here is a lady well beyond counting wooden horses in her sleep but, barring the big notes, it’s no wonder no one was hearing her; she simply wasn’t a presence.