<keyword id="143" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood">Bollywood</keyword> star <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> is the Modi government's first choice as the new face of its 'Incredible India' campaign. Bachchan is also the brand ambassador of Gujarat tourism. 
 "Amitabh Bachchan will be the first choice of the ministry for the job," a Tourism Ministry source told PTI, adding actors <keyword id="2823" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akshay-Kumar">Akshay Kumar</keyword>, <keyword id="598" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Deepika-Padukone">Deepika Padukone</keyword> and <keyword id="1655" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Priyanka-Chopra">Priyanka Chopra</keyword> are among those under consideration. 
 
 
He described the veteran actor as a "non-controversial" figure and noted that Bachchan was the key face for promotion of tourism in Gujarat which has seen an "upsurge" after he was hired by the state. 
 
Khan, whose comments on perceived intolerance in the country had invited flak from BJP, ceased to be the mascot for the campaign as the contract for it expired. 
 
"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," Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma had said yesterday. 
 
Khan today said he respected the government's decision to "discontinue" with his services while making it clear that he never charged anything for the 'Atithi Devo Bhava' campaign. 
 
"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," he said in a statement. 
 
(Image credits: indiatimes)

Big B most likely to take over Aamir Khan as the face of 'Incredible India' campaign

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Hope ProductionsActor Akshay Kumar on the set of "Padman," an upcoming Bollywood film that aims to increase access to sanitary products for women and girls.</div></div></div><ul><li>Akshay Kumar - one of the biggest names in Bollywood - will play the lead role in "Padman," a movie inspired by the true story of a man who invented a low-cost device to make sanitary pads for women and girls in his village.</li><li>The film aims to remove the stigma around periods.</li><li>Kumar told Business Insider that he believes entertainment can normalize taboo subjects in a way that other mediums can't.</li></ul>Around the world, <a href="https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/helping-women-and-girls-period/">millions</a> of low-income women and girls do not have access to sanitary pads or tampons. As a result, many miss or drop out of school, stunting economic opportunities down the line and reinforcing taboos around menstruation.The issue is especially prevalent in rural India. In <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/in/en/insights/reports/2016/breaking-the-menstruation-taboo.html">a 2016 Nielsen survey</a>, 93% of girls in Bihar and Jharkhand, India - rural states in the country - said they miss one to two school days every month during menstruation on average.An upcoming Bollywood film called "Padman" aims to help remove the stigma around periods. One of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/08/30/bollywoods-highest-paid-2017-meet-10-indian-actors-making-bank/#42e5d2eda0d5">most famous actors in Bollywood</a>, Akshay Kumar, plays social activist Arunachalam Muruganantham - the lead role in the film, which is inspired by a true story.Known as "India's Menstrual Man," Muruganantham invented a machine that could produce low-cost sanitary pads for women and girls in the early 2000s. The machine - <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26260978">which he is working to expand to 106 countries</a> - can make pads for less than a third of the price of ones by commercial brands.In an interview with Business Insider, Kumar said he believes that movies (and entertainment in general) can be a powerful way to turn the tide on taboos."I didn't want to make a documentary," he said. "I wanted to make a commercial film so people can see it. It's a film you can take your children to, even though it talks about sanitary pads. It's a universal subject. Nobody has ever tried to touch this subject."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Hope ProductionsActors Sonam Kapoor (left) and Akshay Kumar (right) on the set of "Padman," an upcoming Bollywood film.</div></div></div>Twinkle Khanna, who is married to Kumar and serves as one of the film's producers, said that "Padman" is a story about an innovation that improved the lives of women."I was immediately gripped by the story of this man on two levels. One, because it was about menstruation; and two, because it was a story about somebody who persevered against everything, who lost his wife, who was ostracized from his village. He did not give up."She adds that "Padman" seeks to alleviate the burden of shame that comes from having a period in India. It's uncertain whether the film will achieve the ambitious goal of normalizing menstruation, but a huge name like Kumar could make that more likely."Padman" is set to release worldwide on January 26. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-addict-switches-google-pixel-2-android-phone-2017-11">I've been an iPhone user for 10 years - here's what happened when I switched to the Google Pixel 2 for a week</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

One of Bollywood's biggest stars will be in a film about 'India's menstrual man,' who invented a pad-making machine

Indian actress <keyword id="30508" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Asin">Asin</keyword> Thottumkal, who is making a comeback after a brief period of absence from the silver screen, is going to tie the knot soon. The Ghajini actress, who was last seen with Akshay Kumar in Khiladi 786, is going to exchange vows with Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma, one of India's most successful bachelors. 
 
The multilingual actress is rumored to be in a relationship with Sharma for quite some time now, and plans to leave acting or at least take a long break from it post marriage. 
 
Apparently, Asin and Rahul were introduced to each other by actor Akshay Kumar, who was Asin's co-actor in Housefull 2 and Khiladi 786, while being the brand ambassador of Micromax for some time, along with his wife Twinkle Khanna. 
 
This move has added Asin to the elite club of actresses who got married to businessmen. The other members of this club are: 
 
· Shilpa Shetty, who got married to Raj Kundra 
· Ayesha Takia, who got married to Farhan Azmi 
· Amrita Arora, who got married to Shakeel Ladak 
· Gayatri Joshi, who got married to Vikas Oberoi 
· Raveena Tandon, who got married to Anil Thadani 
· Celina Jaitley, who got married to Peter Haag 
· Juhi Chawla, who got married to Jay Mehta 
 
Asin, who would next be seen opposite Abhishek Bachchan in All Is Well, had stopped signing new projects 2 years back. However, given the election of Smriti Irani as the Education Minister, the movie took 2 years in making. Smriti was earlier supposed to play the role in All Is Well that was finally played by actress Supriya Pathak Kapur. 
 
Team Business Insider India wishes the couple a very happy married life together.

Asin to join the ‘Actress Married To Businessmen’ club

Bollywood actor <keyword id="2823" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akshay-Kumar">Akshay Kumar</keyword>, who is known to be active on social media platforms and share glimpses of his personal and professional lives, unveiled the first look of his upcoming movie Brothers on his social media accounts. 
 
Brothers, starring Akshay Kumar, <keyword id="1320874" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sidharth-Malhotra">Sidharth Malhotra</keyword>, Jackie Shroff and Jacqueline Fernandez is an official adaptation of 2011 Hollywood movie Warrior, starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, Erik Apple and Jennifer Morrison. 
 
It’s a story of two brothers who confront each other and their conflicted past when they end up in a wrestling ring against each other. The film was a critical success and won acclaims for its emotional angles of forgiveness and family bonds. 
 
In the poster unveiled yesterday, we can see both Kumar and Malhotra in beefed-up avatars, to justify the roles of wrestlers. While Sidharth Malhotra is seen in a full beard for the first time, Akshay too has kept his salt-and-peppered beard for the first time in a movie. Prior to this, it was only during award functions and reality shows that we spotted Akshay in a beard. Veteran actor Jackie Shroff, who will be seen playing the role of the brothers, is seen in the backyard, with his look justifying the role of a father recovering from alcohol problems. 
 
Another detail that we noticed in the poster was that both Akshay and Sidharth are playing Christians in the movie, as suggested by the Christ Tattoo that Akshay is seen sporting on his arm and the Cross lockets that both Sidharth and Akshay are wearing. This suggests that the makers have tried to not change too many details from the plot of Warrior, given the fact that the director of the movie was vocal about the <a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/warrior-director-explains-films-spiritual-inspiration/">spiritual inspiration</a> of the movie. 
 
Brothers, which is produced by Karan Johar under his banner Dharma Productions with Lions Gate and Endemol India, is directed by <keyword id="362061" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Karan-Malhotra">Karan Malhotra</keyword> who last directed 2012 release Agneepath, which was a remake of the 1990 film of the same name. 
 
The film is slated to be released on August 14, 2015. 
 
Image courtesy: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/akshaykumarofficial/photos/a.382654393282.163633.20143593282/10152938102563283/?type=1&amp;theater">Akshay Kumar</a>

Akshay Kumar Unveils The First Look Of Brothers

What started off as an ALS awareness drive in America is probably on the verge of becoming a worldwide phenomenon. 
 
Indian Tennis player Rohan Bopanna was the one who started this challenge in India after being nominated by former tennis player Amrit Narsimhan. After taking up the challenge, he nominated actor Rahul Bose, sports editor Digvijay Singh Deo and the entire team of Bengaluru Football club. 
 

 
While Rahul Bose decided to donate to the charity, Bengaluru FC did a group challenge and, in turn, nominated Badminton star Ashwini Ponappa, Tennis sensation Sania Mirza and the blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket Yuvraj Singh. 
 
 
 
Sania Mirza took the challenge twice, having not enough water in the bucket in the first go, and challenged fellow Tennis players Cara Black and Mahesh Bhupathi, Yuvraj Singh, her sister Anam Mirza and actor Riteish Deshmukh, thus, taking the challenge from Indian sports to Bollywood. 
 
 
 
Ashwini Ponappa completed the challenge as well and nominated fellow baddie player Jwala Gutta, swimmer Rehan Poncha and her friend and fashion designer Shravya Verma. 
 
 
 
Mahesh Bhupathi took the challenge and nominated his coach Scott Davidoff, shooter Abhinav Bindra, Abhishek Bachchan and all the members of the Kabaddi team Jaipur Pink Panthers. 
 
 
 
Riteish Deshmukh, who is in Poland shooting for his film Bangistan, produced by Excel Entertainment, went ahead to take the challenge via his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=854831017863533&amp;set=vb.149681275045181&amp;type=2&amp;theater">Facebook account</a> and nominated his ‘good friends’ actors Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Pulkit Samrat, Siddharth Malhotra and Ashish Chowdhry. 
 
All of the above actors as well as Abhinav Bindra, Jaipur Pink Panthers, Jwala Gutta, Scott Davidoff, Rehan Poncha,and Yuvraj Singh are yet to take the challenge. 
 
Original Image courtesy: <a href="http://www.alsa.org/">ALSA</a>. 
 
The Indian flag has been added in the ALS image for creative purposes only, and the edited image does not reflect any official organisation or association.

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