Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will today recognise the legendary career of India's biggest film star, Amitabh Bachchan, who will be awarded the title of Doctor of the University.
QUT's highest honorary award will be conferred on Mr Bachchan at Old Government House at the Gardens Point campus, Brisbane for his outstanding contribution to creative industries over several decades.
Mr Bachchan is one of the most prominent and influential figures in the history of Indian cinema and is coming to QUT fresh from the set of Baz Luhrman's latest production, The Great Gatsby, which is being shot in Sydney.
The prolific Bollywood actor will be playing shady businessman Meyer Wolfsheim alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale of the jazz age.
Mr Bachchan, who first gained popularity in the early 1970s, has won numerous awards including three National Film Awards and 12 Filmfare Awards, and has also received a number of India's highest civilian honours.
As well as founding his own company, he has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
QUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Peter Coaldrake, said Mr Bachchan was the most significant Indian film industry name to come to Australia so the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship between the Australian and Indian creative industries was enormous.
"Mr Bachchan is only the second person from India - after IT leader, Narayana Murthy - to receive such an honour from QUT," Professor Coaldrake said.
"He embodies the theme of creative industries - a combination of performing arts and business models, which QUT has so successfully promoted.
"This will be a significant link between our Creative Industries Faculty - the first such faculty in Australia and a national leader in research, teaching and professional practice in this sector - and the Indian entertainment industry."
Many significant international honours have been conferred on Mr Bachchan. These include the Star of the Century award at the Alexandria International Film Festival in 2001, Cultural Ambassador of South Africa by President Thabo Mbeki in 2003, and the Officier de la Legion d'Honneur by the French Government.
Mr Bachchan said he was honoured to be recognised by QUT.
"I am truly overwhelmed and immensely pleased to be the recipient of such a distinction," Mr Bachchan said.
"The recognition of my contribution to Indian cinema and its effort to reach out to an international community fills me with intense pride and humility - pride for being able to be a link between Australian and Indian professionals of the film and creative industries and humility for a chance to be the medium in doing so.
"May this help strengthen the existing bonds between our two countries."
Mr Bachchan was on the verge of accepting the doctorate in 2009, but later declined as he felt the timing was "inappropriate" following attacks on Indian students in Victoria.
On Friday (Oct 21) Mr Bachchan will launch an international travel bursary at QUT in the name of his late father Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a leading Indian poet of the 20th century and the second Indian to receive a doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University.
Executive Dean of the Creative Industries Faculty Professor Rod Wissler said the bursary would allow QUT students to visit Indian institutions in the creative entertainment and cultural sectors for study or research.
"It is intended that recipients of this annual bursary will aspire to similar achievements, fundamental to deeper cultural understanding and international cooperation," Professor Wissler said.
"Some of the relevant disciplines from which recipients may be drawn include creative writing, performing arts, film and television production and fashion design."
WHAT: Private ceremony followed by a media briefing
WHERE: Old Government House, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Gardens Point Campus, Brisbane
WHEN: From 11.00am Thursday, October 20.
MEDIA INTERVIEWEES: Amitabh Bachchan and QUT Vice-Chancellor Peter Coaldrake
A media release will be distributed on the day of the event with additional quotes and high-res photographs.
Media contacts:
-Janne Rayner, QUT associate director media and communication, 07 3138 3026, 0407 585 901or j2.rayner@qut.edu.au
-Alita Pashley, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or alita.pashley@qut.edu.au
