India megastar Amitabh Bachchan to visit Egypt
Ahram Online, , Thursday 26 Mar 2015
The internationally known Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan will visit Egypt as a guest of honour at the India by the Nile festival. Films starring Bachchan will be screened within the Indian Film Panorama




Amitabh Bachchan, the undeniable megastar of India's film industry, whose name is well known to international audiences, will be coming to Egypt in late March.

Born in 1949, Bachchan catapulted to fame when he was cast as the leading role in the Hindi action-thriller Zanjir (1973). Over the four decades of his active film career, he has appeared in over 100 films, garnering numerous awards as Best Actor. Most recently, he was awarded India's Padma Vibhushan award for his service to the nation.

Equally, the name of Bachchan is not strange to Egyptian audiences, especially the older generation who followed his movies throughout the 1970s onwards.

Invited by the Embassy of India to Egypt, the star's visit to Egypt as guest of honor is linked to the third edition of India by the Nile festival scheduled to take place between 28 March and 15 April.

Bachchan's visit has been highly promoted by both the Indian Embassy in Egypt as well as the media in both countries.

On 23 March, The Bombay Times released a short video informing the viewers about the stars visit to Egypt underscoring that Bachchan "is excited to meet his fans in Egypt."

Active on social media, the actor himself is continually posting on Facebook, Twitter and on his blog updates about his work, as well as personal views about the film industry. Most recently Bachchan mentioned his upcoming visit to Egypt on his blog. He said: "I am back tomorrow... and then prepare for Egypt and Cairo for the 'India by the Nile' festival and activities, starting in a few days."

Bachchan has 20 million followers on Facebook and 14 million on Twitter.

In Cairo, the India Embassy launched a Facebook competition titled "Ask a question to Amitabh Bachchan about his life, work and films." The embassy revealed that "the most interesting questions will be selected by a special jury to ask the question to Mr. Bachchan himself at the Pyramids or the Opera House on 31 March."

On 31 March, Bachchan will make an appearance at a press conference, followed by a conversation with Sidhart Bhatia at the main hall of the Cairo Opera House.

In the evening, the grand opening of India by the Nile will take place at the Pyramids, an event which will include Bachchan.

The Indian Film Panorama, which will run between 29 March and 3 April, will include a segment of films starring Amitabh Bachchan: Anand (1971), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Agneepath (1990) Black (2005) and Paa (2009).

Screenings will take place at the Artistic Creativity Centre located on the grounds of the Cairo Opera House.

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