Amar blogs on Big B's bonhomie with Modi

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's new-found camaraderie with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has found a supporter in Amar Singh.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan's new-found camaraderie with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has found a supporter in Amar Singh.

HT Image

The expelled Samajwadi Party leader has slammed the media and "political rivals" for playing up Bachchan agreeing to be the brand ambassador of Gujarat.

Bachchan had organised a special screening of his movie "Paa" for Modi in Gandhinagar on Jan 6 and also expressed his wish to be Gujarat's brand ambassador. The chief minister followed it up with a formal offer to the Bollywood icon, who accepted it Feb 1.

After the Jan 6 meeting with the chief minister, the Bollywood star wrote in his blog: "He (Modi) lives simply and with mere basic needs and most unlike the head of a state. He speaks with affection on development and progress. He is welcoming to fresh ideas and ideals. His oft repeated phrase of him being a CM, a common man, is not misunderstood."

Amar Singh said there was nothing wrong with the film star meeting Modi.

"He (Amitabh) had gone to meet Modi, not an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)," Amar Singh wrote.

He compared the meeting with that between Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RSS leader K. Sudarshan.

"Did Mulayam became a Sangh activist after meeting Sudarshan?" Amar Singh wondered.

He said Bachchan had only agreed to Modi's proposal of promoting tourist places in Gujarat.