Khan’s contract not to be renewed.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan may replace Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador of ‘Incredible India’ campaign run by the tourism ministry of India, according to reports.
Sources say that Bachchan, who is currently the brand ambassador of Gujarat tourism, is the Narendra Modi lead BJP government’s first choice for being the new face of its ‘Incredible India’ campaign.
“Amitabh Bachchan will be the first choice of the ministry for the job,” a tourism ministry source told PTI.
Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra are others under consideration.
Tourism minister Mahesh Sharma confirmed on Wednesday that Khan’s contract which ended recently, will not be renewed.
“It was the (private) agency which has hired him. Since the contract with the agency is no more, automatically the arrangement with the actor no longer exists,” he said.
However, Khan stated in a detailed statement that, “It has been an honour and a pleasure for me to be the Brand Ambassador for the Incredible India campaign for the past 10 years. I was happy to be of service to my country, and will always be available for it. I would like to clarify that all public service films I have done till date have all been free of any cost to me.
“It is always an honour for me to be of service of my country, and this is how it will always be. It is the prerogative of the government to decide whether they need a brand ambassador for any campaign, and if so, who that ambassador should be. I respect the decision of the government to discontinue with my services. I am sure they will take all appropriate steps to do what is best for the country. Whether I am brand ambassador or not, India will remain Incredible, and that’s the way it should be,” the actor added.
While speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards last year, Khan had said that his wife Kiran Rao had expressed her concerns over “intolerance” in the country.
The remark had seen a raging debate in the country, on social media, by politicians, Bollywood celebrities and alike.
After facing severe criticism, Khan responded that neither he nor his wife Kiran Rao have any intention of leaving the country. The actor also stated that he is proud to be an Indian and stands by what he said.