Bollywood actor John Abraham has been roped in as tourism ambassador of Arunachal Pradesh, in a bid to make the state popular. Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Secretary Joram Beda said in a statement that the actor’s popularity would strengthen the purpose of making the state in the Indian diaspora as a prominent tourist destination.
The actor, who enjoys adventure and travelling, spoke about how less was focused on North East India, an equally titular part of the country. “Historically and geographically, we have alienated the North East from the rest of India. It is truly sad. I think we have to be inclusive and it is high time we included North East in India,” he said at a press meet. “It is important for us to bring it back in the mainstream and tell people that this place is not impossible to go to. It is so beautiful, it has everything that we look for,” he added.
The Bollywood actor admitted that when he was offered to be the face of the state, he considered it as a ‘blessing in disguise’, before adding that he was keen on having a lot of his films shot in the state. “I spoke to the honourable chief minister Pema Khandu and told him that I would be keen to shoot a film there. He assured me that he will extend any kind of support and service that is needed,” he was quoted saying.
Abraham joins the bandwagon of other Bollywood celebrities whose global appeal helps tourism in many of the states they represent. It is reported that when Amitabh Bachchan became the face of Gujarat’s tourism in 2011, hotel rooms in Gujarat had increased to 64,000 from 45,000 in two years and number of tourists also increased by 55 Lakhs. Bearing in mind other actors, such as Siddharth Malhotra as the Indian ambassador for New Zealand’s tourism, and Akshay Kumar for Canada, Abraham’s role includes similar to that of his colleagues – promote the state in his films, social media handles, and his advertisements.
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However, Abraham raises a valid point about the North East region in the country subjected to a lot of neglect. Filmmaker Kiran Rao spoke about this neglect in a blog post five years ago, shedding light on how all movies, serials, news channels concentrate on “mainland” India. “Successive governments at the Centre have been announcing special economic packages for the development of NE. I am not aware of how much of this has really translated to results. Maybe the one aspect that stands out in this regard would be the road infrastructure development projects (NHDP) — these seem to have made a positive impact during the last few years,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, Abraham, who already owns a football team in North East, is also open to back talent from the region. “I would really like to back talent in films from there just the way I do it for my football team. Not necessarily in front of the camera but also behind the camera,” he said.