London is pretty blase about Indian film stars who practically live in the UK, but for the seaside resort of Blackpool somewhere far in the north-west of England, the madness of Bollywood was a novel experience.
To be fair, Madame Tussauds Blackpool, a separate entity from Madame Tussauds London, where all previous waxwork models of Hindi film actors have been unveiled, appear to have done an excellent job with Kareena Kapoor.
“Obviously, the thought of being immortalised is very, very scary, there’s just two of me in the world which is just extremely humbling and such a big honour and I’m very excited,” said Kareena, who arrived to the beating of Indian dhols.
Though she has been busy promoting Ra.One - she attended the London premiere with Shah Rukh Khan - she did have a couple of good lines of dialogue worked out for when she met her equally fetching double.
Kareena.1 gave her Kareena.2 a coy glance as though to say: “Impossible, no one can be as beautiful as that.”
A few among the 1,000 fans of Hindi cinema who turned up for today’s unveiling thought she said: “This looks even more beautiful than me,” or something like that.
A lovesick young Indian youth seemed lost for words: “She’s so beautiful, I’m so shocked at how beautiful she is - stunning!”
The new desi generation in England is certainly being bred on Bollywood from a very early age.
A young Indian girl confessed: “My heart’s beating so fast right now I think I’m going to faint.”
Kareena, who arrived with mother Babita, was clearly delighted with the result, the work of award winning sculptor Amelia Rowcroft.
Her waxwork, which took four months to create at a cost of £150,000, takes pride of place at the new Blackpool attraction alongside other figures from the world of TV, music and sport.
“The figure looks incredible and is so lifelike, I had to do a double take when I saw myself - they have really done a superb job at capturing my essence,” acknowledged Kareena.
She disclosed that the person she would most like to stand next to was Johnny Depp. “I’m a huge fan,” she disclosed.
“It is an honour and a privilege for me to have my own wax figure at Madame Tussauds Blackpool and even more so to launch a global Bollywood exhibition,” she added. “This is a moment of pride for Indian cinema.”
A special “Bollywood Room” has been created where Kareena’s model is joining duplicates of those in London - Shah Rukh, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan and a new figure of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (and no, it does not show her baby bump).
This display will remain in place until January 2012 when the Bollywood five will begin a world tour, starting with Bangkok.
Fan Anil Singh, aged 24, from Birmingham melted on meeting Kareena: “She is absolutely beautiful, she looks just like she does on film. Plus her figure is amazing - so glamorous just like the real Kareena. The whole Bollywood experience is magical and a real must see for all, whether they are Bollywood fans or not!”
The museum described Kareena as the “star of over 40 films, whose last three films feature in the top five Bollywood box office blockbusters of all time,” and as “ an icon in the world of Bollywood”.
It said her “fans travelled from across the globe just to get a glimpse of her, showing the loyalty of the global megastar’s fans”.
Kareena may not realise this but she represents an important aspect of the plan to revive the Blackpool area. Madame Tussauds Blackpool is part of a £20million regeneration plan for the iconic Blackpool Tower and Promenade.
This plan “is at the heart of the Blackpool Council’s investment plan to bring over 800,000 more visitors to the resort and take what is already one of the best loved and most iconic seaside destinations in Europe into the premier league as an exceptional new family holiday destination”.
It is hoped Kareena will bring in the Indian crowds.
source : telegraphindia
To be fair, Madame Tussauds Blackpool, a separate entity from Madame Tussauds London, where all previous waxwork models of Hindi film actors have been unveiled, appear to have done an excellent job with Kareena Kapoor.
“Obviously, the thought of being immortalised is very, very scary, there’s just two of me in the world which is just extremely humbling and such a big honour and I’m very excited,” said Kareena, who arrived to the beating of Indian dhols.
Though she has been busy promoting Ra.One - she attended the London premiere with Shah Rukh Khan - she did have a couple of good lines of dialogue worked out for when she met her equally fetching double.
Kareena.1 gave her Kareena.2 a coy glance as though to say: “Impossible, no one can be as beautiful as that.”
A few among the 1,000 fans of Hindi cinema who turned up for today’s unveiling thought she said: “This looks even more beautiful than me,” or something like that.
A lovesick young Indian youth seemed lost for words: “She’s so beautiful, I’m so shocked at how beautiful she is - stunning!”
The new desi generation in England is certainly being bred on Bollywood from a very early age.
A young Indian girl confessed: “My heart’s beating so fast right now I think I’m going to faint.”
Kareena, who arrived with mother Babita, was clearly delighted with the result, the work of award winning sculptor Amelia Rowcroft.
Her waxwork, which took four months to create at a cost of £150,000, takes pride of place at the new Blackpool attraction alongside other figures from the world of TV, music and sport.
“The figure looks incredible and is so lifelike, I had to do a double take when I saw myself - they have really done a superb job at capturing my essence,” acknowledged Kareena.
She disclosed that the person she would most like to stand next to was Johnny Depp. “I’m a huge fan,” she disclosed.
“It is an honour and a privilege for me to have my own wax figure at Madame Tussauds Blackpool and even more so to launch a global Bollywood exhibition,” she added. “This is a moment of pride for Indian cinema.”
A special “Bollywood Room” has been created where Kareena’s model is joining duplicates of those in London - Shah Rukh, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan and a new figure of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (and no, it does not show her baby bump).
This display will remain in place until January 2012 when the Bollywood five will begin a world tour, starting with Bangkok.
Fan Anil Singh, aged 24, from Birmingham melted on meeting Kareena: “She is absolutely beautiful, she looks just like she does on film. Plus her figure is amazing - so glamorous just like the real Kareena. The whole Bollywood experience is magical and a real must see for all, whether they are Bollywood fans or not!”
The museum described Kareena as the “star of over 40 films, whose last three films feature in the top five Bollywood box office blockbusters of all time,” and as “ an icon in the world of Bollywood”.
It said her “fans travelled from across the globe just to get a glimpse of her, showing the loyalty of the global megastar’s fans”.
Kareena may not realise this but she represents an important aspect of the plan to revive the Blackpool area. Madame Tussauds Blackpool is part of a £20million regeneration plan for the iconic Blackpool Tower and Promenade.
This plan “is at the heart of the Blackpool Council’s investment plan to bring over 800,000 more visitors to the resort and take what is already one of the best loved and most iconic seaside destinations in Europe into the premier league as an exceptional new family holiday destination”.
It is hoped Kareena will bring in the Indian crowds.
source : telegraphindia