Crowds gathered at the world premiere of ‘Mr. Holmes’ at the Berlin film festival in the hope of getting an autograph from the legendary Ian McKellen, who stars as an elderly Sherlock Holmes in the movie.

Directed by Bill Condon, the film is an adaptation of Mitch Cullin’s novel ‘A Slight Trick of the Mind’. As his memory begins to fail, the ageing detective tells his housekeeper’s son about his life.

“I get to play the real Sherlock Holmes that everybody knows, solving the case in Baker Street, and then many, many years later looking back on himself as a rather different Sherlock Holmes,” Ian McKellen explained in Berlin.

The 75-year old actor joked about the ageing make-up process required to play a character nearly 20 years his senior: “It was a bit alarming because it didn’t take long to do because of the technique. They put this rubber on your face. I’ve got a hat on and I was sort of hunchback like this… (pause). But I am glad to be on television to show you that I’m not