Film-maker Baz Luhrmann to ‘auction’ Big B

Film-maker and artist Baz Luhrmann was in India a few months ago. During that visit he made a trip to Rajasthan from Mumbai on his customised motorcycle along with his close friend and artist, Vincent Fantauzzo. Baz had then told After Hrs, “I have come to India to take the country with me. I am so much in love with the country that I will make more (of an) effort to raise money for the people here who need it and I am sure that my mates back home will support me too.”

True to his word, Baz has now decided to take his art and his cause Arthk10, Asia’s leading art fair, to Hong Kong. He will be auctioning his artwork and the money raised from the sale proceeds will be donated for the cause of specially-abled children in India through an organisation based in Mumbai. Of all the artworks, the most prominent one is a portrait of Amitabh Bachchan that Baz had made when he visited the star in Mumbai.

Baz’s spokesperson says, “In India they (Baz and Vincent) met Mr Amitabh Bachchan. Here, they will be revealing the Fantauzzo/Luhrmann collaborated portrait of Mr Bachchan for the first time as part of the installation. Their (Baz and Vincent’s) work will be presented at this year’s Arthk10, on till May 30.”

Sources say Baz’s friends in Hollywood like actor Nicole Kidman are also doing their bit to help him in this initiative. “Nicole and a few other Hollywood celebs who are Baz’s close friends have contributed to his cause and have either pulled in their resources or helped in other ways (like spreading the word to pull in more resources). But neither Baz nor Nicole want to get publicity out of it and would rather go about it silently,” says a source.