Big B dons a new hat

Amitabh Bachchan becomes ‘copy- writer’ for the UP state assembly elections, reports Amitabh Parashar.

Director Shoojit Sarkar has stated that Amitabh Bachchan has taken on a new role – as “copywriter” for advertisements related to his home state Uttar Pradesh.

The advertisements, which have been on air on satellite channels feature Bachchan. According to Sarkar, who made the film Yahaan.., the superstar actor also headed the creative team which produced them.

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And it seems he didn’t take any fee whatsoever to appear in these ads commissioned by the government of Uttar Pradesh.

Sarkar, director of the ad “UP mein hai dum, kyonki jurm yahan hain kam” featuring Amitabh says, “He didn’t take any money for the ads. In fact, didn’t charge any fee as the director.”

Sarkar who also made the ‘India Poised campaign’ with Bachchan for a media house, elaborates, “I think, he is comfortable working with me. That’s the reason he gives me a chance to work with him.”

Sarkar is scheduled to direct a feature film, in which Bachchan Sr has agreed to play the lead role. The director says that the creative team (of ads related to Uttar Pradesh ) was headed by Bachchan himself.

The lines (“UP mein hai dum” and “Agar punar janam ho to Uttar Pradesh ki dharti par ho”..or “UP has the power”..and “If one was to be reborn it would be on the Uttar Pradesh soil”) have been written by Bachchan.

The three ads which show visuals of UP have been shot in many parts of the state including Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi – an an incredibly low budget of Rs 10 lakh.

Meanwhile, the pulse polio ad, in which Bachchan appeared, has been withdrawn after an order of the Election Commission.

This was done because of the assembly elections in UP. No problems According to a spokesman of the Election Commission, “We didn’t want the voter of UP to get confused! Mr. Bachchan is associated with the Samajwadi party (SP).. if he is doing an ad sponsored by SP, we do not have any problems. But if he appears in a pulse polio campaign, which is a campaign of the central government, a voter may get confused whether he is supporting a cause of the SP or the UPA government.”

Be that as it may, the ad continues to beamed on every channel.