Madame Tussauds unveils Amitabh waxwork for Delhi opening

Anshul Jain, Merlin Entertainment’s India general manager and director, left, and Marcel Kloos, director New Openings Europe and Emerging Markets, pose with a wax statue of Amitabh Bachchan in New Delhi on Thursday. (AP)

NEW DELHI: Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan ahead of the museum’s opening later this year in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Bachchan, 74, is one of Indian cinema’s most influential actors and has been a mainstay on screens for five decades.
“We looked at the culture and of course, we have a lot of Indian visitors in our existing attractions as well. Their feedback is so positive ... that we said we need to be there,” Marcel Kloos, Merlin Entertainments’ director of new openings in emerging markets said.
Guests at the unveiling photographed themselves alongside Bachchan, as well as with a waxwork of American popstar Lady Gaga.
The Delhi branch above the city center’s famed Regal Cinema is India’s first Madame Tussauds, the museum’s 23rd globally and its ninth in Asia, where a growing middle class are prepared to pay to see wax figures of their favorite stars.
Wax statues of leading figures from Bollywood, sports and politics will feature in Delhi including one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who is already in the London branch — as well as cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.