Amitabh Bachchan and his family arrived in Maldives Tuesday morning to celebrate the Bollywood megastar’s 75th birthday.
Photos on social media show Amitabh posing with an airport official. In another photo, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan are seen onboard a passenger bus at the Maldives main Velana International Airport.
They are reportedly accompanied by Amitabh’s wife Jaya Bhaduri and son Abhishek Bachchan as well as the megastar’s daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda and her children Navya Naveli and Agastya.
It is unclear where the Bachchan family will be staying. However, Indian media reports have said that the Bachchans would be spending their family holiday at the same resort that they celebrated Abhishek’s birthday in 2016.
Conflicting reports have earlier emerged on Indian media as some papers said that Amitabh had cancelled his planned birthday bash in the Maldives.
Amitabh, who turns 75 on Wednesday, first gained popularity in the early 1970s for movies like Zanjeer and Deewaar, and was dubbed India’s first “angry young man” for his on-screen roles in Bollywood. Referred to as the “Shahenshah of Bollywood”, “Star of the Millennium” or “Big B”, he has since appeared in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema, Amitabh is currently shooting for YRF’s most ambitious film Thugs of Hindostan, which also features Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif in lead roles. The megastar will also be reviving Umesh Shukla’s delayed film 102 Not Out along with Rishi Kapoor, while Aishwarya is prepping up for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Fanney Khan, co-starring Anil Kapoor.
Maldives is amongst the most sought after destinations by celebrity travellers from around the world.
Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio and American TV personality Paris Hilton have recently partied in the Maldives, while the likes of English singer and television presenter Rochelle Humes and her husband Marvin, and British TV personality Billie Faiers have all declared the Maldives as their favourite part of the world for a relaxing getaway. Another British singer Perrie Edwards, English actress Millie Mackintosh and the Beckhams have also fell in love with the white sands and the blue skies of the Maldives.
Hollywood and Bollywood personalities such as Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Alia Bhatt and Priyanka Chopra as well as world-renowned music artists have declared their love for the Maldives. Sports personalities, including the likes of David Beckham, Carlos Tevez, Arjen Robben, Miroslav Klose, Franz Beckenbauer and Marcel Desailly have also spent their hard-earned vacations in this tropical paradise.
India has also become a major emerging source market for the Maldives’ tourism industry.
Official figures show that 66,955 tourists arrived in Maldives from its closest neighbour last year, a 27.9 percent increase from the 52,368 Indian travellers that chose the Maldives in 2015.
That growth has continued this year as well, as the number of Indian tourists that visited the Maldives recorded a 25.3 percent increase in the past nine months of the year to reach 48,939 compared to 39,059 in the same period last year.