We get a lot of press releases here in the bunker. Sometimes one comes along advertising an event that looks like too much fun to pass up.
That’s how I felt when I heard that Madame Tussauds New York would be unveiling of their newest addition- a life-sized statue of Shah Rukh Khan. So last Thursday I headed to the museum’s Bollywood Zone to see the statue for myself.
As costumed dancers from Bollywood Axion performed to a medley of songs from Om Shanti Om, photographers quickly snapped photos and fans patiently waited for the area to be opened to the public. According to Rosemary del Prado, the museum’s director of marketing, Khan’s fans are the reason Madame Tussauds commissioned the statue. “Visitors just started to ask right after the Bollywood Zone opened last year,” she said. While the museum doesn’t keep track of how many tourists from South Asia visit each year, they do know that half of all museum guests are international tourists.
Some more fun facts about the statue: It takes about 3-4 months to create a figure after the celebrity has a sitting. All of the hair is individually inserted, and the eyes are created using silk thread. Shah Rukh Khan is the second Bollywood star to be displayed at the New York Museum. He joins Amitabh Bachchan.
Of course, none of these facts would matter if the statue didn’t look like Khan. I thought it looked quite realistic and the fans I spoke to agreed. “I think it looks really nice. It looks better than the one in the UK,” said Sanchari Ghosh, a 16-year-old fan from New Jersey.
Her brother Saurabh Ghosh, 18, agreed. “I think that Madame Tussaud would be proud,” he said.
Do you agree? And what other celebrities would you like to see at the Madame Tussauds Bollywood Zone?
Since you asked, I would like to see “Natha” from Peepli (Live) eating a “Boiled Egg” while slipping on a cow dung in rural setting. There’s a real celebrity ;-)SRK? I dunno?
way to mess up the aspect ratio of that image.
wax statue looks way too realistic…a bit unsettling.. but impressive…
Who else should they add? Hmm so many to choose from…
Rani Mukherji Naseeruddin Shah Abhishek Bachchan Konkona Sen Sharma
yo dad – watced “peepli live” over the weekend, a very, very fine example of superb movie making. last time the hindi fim industry produced such high satire was nearly three decades ago – jaane bhi do yaaron.
No way- it looks like a fake even from that distance and resolution. Could be me, but it seems like Mme Toussaud’s needs a little work on the browner folk. I’m glad to see them trying, though.
I’ll second a Rani Mukherjee. I’d like to see a Rekha, Priyanka Chopra, and Boman Irani included.
MUGAMBO
TEJA
I wonder if he got pick his skin color – he looks too pale here. He is browner in real life. I personally think the statue would have been more attractive (and less creepy) if it had a little more color.
Ah the Taj Mahal!! We are proud of it, but do the people at Madame Tussaud have to resort to using the most banal background?
What? No fatwa? Salman Khan had the honor of a fatwa when he got his statue done at the original Tussauds. But SRK doesn’t need that kind of publicity, especially after the Newark airport incident.
Exactly that.
What other monuments do farangis associate with pan-Indian India? Plus, he could be mistaken for latin singing sensation Chayanne were it not for that!
SRK is going to have serious competition in the acting department from this guy.
Madhuri Dixit and Prabhu Deva
Rajnikanth deserves one ?
SRK looking sexy. but i think this is not his realy style