Bachchan in London

London, Aug. 22: India should no longer be dismissed as a “Third World” country but should henceforth be given due respect as a “developed nation”, Amitabh Bachchan, said in London yesterday.

The film star made his remarks at a press conference aimed at promoting the latest leg of “The Unforgettable Tour” by Bollywood actors which is to take place on Sunday at the 14,000-seat O2 Arena in London.

Bachchan, who is being accompanied on tour by his wife, Jaya, his son, Abhishek, and daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai, was asked what it meant to be an Indian today and about the nature of the relationship between India and the diaspora, increasingly third or even fourth generation, scattered across the world.

No doubt, economists will protest that India combines extremes of wealth and poverty, but Bachchan stated: “India today is a recognised force and I hope to see that India is no longer referred to as a Third World country or a developing nation – it should be referred to as a developed nation and a first (world country).”

As for the link between India and the diaspora, he went on: “I think that those who chose to go out of India and settle abroad, one must acknowledge their desires to do so but what I had noticed was that despite the fact that Indians had gone out of India and settled abroad and becomes nationals and lived in the environment and acquired citizenship, they have never ever forgotten their roots – that’s why we come and relate to them.”

On the current hectic tour, Bachchan and other stars, including Preity Zinta and Riteish Deshmukh, have entertained Indian audiences in Toronto on July 18, Port of Spain in Trinidad on July 20, Los Angeles, on July 26, San Francisco on July 27, Houston on August 2, Atlantic City on August 9, Chicago on August 10, and New York on August 15.

Shilpa Shetty is flying in from Mumbai for the London event. The tour will end after concerts in Amsterdam on August 29 and in Oberhausen in Germany on August 30. But there are plans to revive the tour in west Asia, Australasia and the Far East, according to Bachchan’s publicists.

It has long been recognised that Indian cinema, along with cricket, binds the Indian diaspora to the Mother country, and that Bachchan, perhaps more than any other actor from Hindi cinema, has acted as a link.

Long treated as the ambassador for Bollywood (though he does not care for the word), especially in his stewardship of IIFA, the Big B appeared yesterday to have made the transition to a full-fledged ambassador for India.

In his thoughtful answer, he said: “Primarily we are very proud of our country, we are proud of our history, we are proud of our culture – it goes back thousands and thousands of years. We are proud that we fought for our independence, we are proud that we are the largest democracy in the world and we are very proud now of the way India is progressing after the economic liberalisation.”

He described the bonding with Indian fans as “a wonderful experience”.

Asked why he had embraced the cause of climate change and was hoping to allocate some money from the tour to bring electricity, possibly via solar technology, to 100 villages in India, Bachchan took a position which was somewhat different from that adopted by the Indian government.

The latter, while agreeing there is a need to tackle climate change, has generally argued that the problem has been caused by the west and that Indian industry should not be expected to shoulder the burden of reducing emissions without the help of clean air technology from richer countries.

Bachchan did not view the problem as a conflict between the west and India.

“All of us are victims of global warming,” he said. “It could be that the United States of America and developed world are largely responsible for the emissions but, in time to come, with India developing and the kind of development that is taking place, we will also be victims of this the same kind of emissions.”

He took a more charitable view: “Perhaps the west is trying to warn us to take pre-emptive measures before we get into a situation that they are in now presently. That is very wise. We see that kind of reasoning and the argument and that is why we want to hold hands with global warming. It is a universal cause.”