Ahmedabad, January 08: After the ‘Paa’ of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, met Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Of course his retirement from politics was known, but does he have any interest in a
political career.
“No, no, no!” Bachchan said, surprised at the speculation. “I am not reentering politics; not now, not even in the distant future. I left politics long back. I met the chief minister mainly to request him to exempt ‘Paa’ fromentertainment tax in Gujarat.”
He said that a movie can apply for exemption only after a certain period following its release for exhibition. It is now four months since ‘Paa’ was released. “So I was here for that purpose,” Bachchan told.
“He [Modi] was kind enough to meet me and see the movie, besides also inviting many of his cabinet colleagues to watch the film.”
Bachchan reiterated his offer to promote Gujarat and said he was impressed by its cultural heritage. It is difficult not be overawed by Bachchan, particularly when you are in his presence, but the unassuming and soft-spoken superstar goes out of his way to make visitors comfortable.
“It was a wonderful experience,” he said. “The chief minister is very dynamic, very clear in thought and approach. And, I think, that is clear from what you see all around you. I am in Ahmedabad after a long time. You have wide roads here, lots of greenery, a lot of discipline.”
Bachchan and Modi seem to have established an instant rapport. The actor wrote on his blog: “Over a light dinner during the interval, he (Modi) turned to me and said: ‘The main and most important assets for an actor are his face and his voice….But you have done away with both aspects in this film [Paa] and still succeeded in making yourself attractive to the audience.
That is remarkable!’ Bachchan’s offer to lend his voice and face to anypromotional material on Gujarat’scultural heritage could be very profitable for the state.
Bachchan further wrote on his blog that Modi had agreed to grant ‘Paa’ exemption from entertainment tax provided the paperwork for this had been done.
Later, on Thursday, the Gujarat government announced that no entertaintainment tax would be levied on the movie.
—-PTI