PATIALA: Ever since Amitabh Bachchan was asked for his cellphone number on the Kaun Banega Crorepati show on Monday and he obliged, Puneet Bansal has been bombarded with calls and messages.

Bansal's mobile started ringing as soon as Bachchan gave out the first nine digits of the number. Bansal claimed so far, he had received around 10,000 calls from the US, UK, Hong Kong and Thailand alone. He has also had callers from Pune, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad. During a 25-minute chat with TOI on Friday, Bansal got 98 missed calls.

Bansal sent a legal notice to Big B and KBC on Friday. “Initially, I was at a loss... But on September 12, when a caller told me he wanted to talk to Amitabh Bachchan and that Big B had given the number during KBC, I understood,” said Bansal.

Bansal has stopped taking calls but then he has some 2,500 SMSes. “Amitabhji please talk to me”, “I love you, Amitabh”... it goes on.