Super star Amitabh Bachchan may be happy with his just-concluded three-day Kutch trip for shooting of TCGL's second art and handicraft-specific ad and may have praised Kutchi artisans by saying, "They are the real super stars of India." But the latter have complained that they returned home with a bitter taste of having been shabbily treated by the state tourism corporation at Hodko village of Banni on the last day of the shooting on Monday.
"We were called several times in the Rann for location shooting from our far-off villages with frequent change in shooting schedules. We were told at the eleventh hour to come to Hodko. We went there and did the shoot with the mega star, but we were prevented from presenting a precious gift of our work, which we had made especially for Bachchanji. This angered all of us and when we refused to pose for pictures of our artistic work sans Bachchan, which led to stoppage of shooting for one and hour, then only were we allowed to have a mere glimpse of Bachchanji while he was boarding his car and accepting gifts without being given time to know us and our art."
The man who constantly kept us away from Bachchan was one Mitra saheb (referring to Vipul Mitra, tourism secretary who was accompanying Bachchan during his state visit)," craftsmen Dr Ismail Khatri and Gaffor said in exclusive interviews with DNA late on Monday night, soon after they returned to their respective villages from Hodko The two said but for the timely intervention of senior production personnel of ad company, who had been very co-operative and accomodating, the situation might have been worse.
Dr Khatri of Ajarakhpur village of Bhuj taluka, is only a seventh standard pass, but he has been bestowed with a honorary doctorate degree by De Montfort University of London for his being a teacher of the university's more than 100 Ph.D students in his traditional art of block printing. He was called to London where he was given the degree at a normal convocation.
Khatri is also a recipient of three UNESCO awards for his art. What is common between Big B and Khatri is that the latter got his honorary degree from this Leicestershire-based university in 2003, while Bachchan was given the same honorary doctorate degree by this university in 2007. 'I did not want to go to shoot with Bachchan, but I was told by my family members that it would not be right not to go as the purpose of the Bachchan ad was to promote the traditional art of Kutch. But I was manhandled by Mitra saheb," he laments.
Photo Caption(s):Dr Ismail Khatri a doctorate recipient earlier than Bachchan from the same university pleads before Vipul Mitra for a brief meeting with Big B
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