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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly stated his love for Bollywood while he wished “Shalom” to the Bollywood family in an event where he received a special welcome along with his wife Sara, by B-town’s biggest superstar Amitabh Bachchan along with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the “city that never sleeps”
“I found that Amitabh Bachchan has 30 million more Twitter followers than I do. I looked at other stars as well and I realized that you guys are a big thing. And the reason for that is that the world loves Bollywood, Israel loves Bollywood and I love Bollywood. We are putting our money where our mouth is,” he added.
A grand feast was held as it marked the end of the six-day trip of the Prime Minister in India. The gala dinner was attended by mega-celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Karan Johar, Subhash Ghai, Imtiaz Ali, Prasoon Joshi, Randhir Kapoor, Ronnie Screwvala, Madhur Bhandarkar, Vivek Oberoi, Raj Nayak and Sara Ali Khan just to name a few.
“The world loves Bollywood, Israel loves Bollywood, I love Bollywood,” the PM said while describing how Israel is in abundance with natural beauty that has turned as a perfect shooting spot for Bollywood which in turn has increased the revenue that comes by tourism, thereby helping Israel greatly.
“You have seen what you find in Israel. In an hour’s drive, you have snow, the beaches, the desert, you have the salty sea, a sweet lake, great Indian food. I love Indian food, but it’s not only this. It is not only great locations,” he said.
He later called upon all the celebrities for a picture together on stage for which he said,
“One of the most viral pictures of all time took place at the Oscars, and several celebrities including Brad Pitt took a selfie. So I want the all the Bollywood celebrities, producers and stars to join together for a selfie. Let a few hundred million people see the friendship,” and Amitabh Bachchan stepped up to capture the joyful moment.
Netanyahu later tweeted “Will my Bollywood selfie beat Hollywood selfie at the Oscars?” along with his selfie.
The event concluded with the words “Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Israel” by the Israeli Prime Minister.
