UTV Stars' much-awaited project now gears up for an international debut. UTV Stars, the Bollywood entertainment channel, which had announced late last year the launch of Bollywood Walk of Fame in Mumbai, akin to Hollywood's prestigious Walk of Fame, has finally fixed a March launch of its project.
The channel's business head Nikhil Gandhi and his team have been collecting on an average four handprints everyday from top Bollywood stars to ensure a full house. Encouraged by the response to the concept (now officially named Walk of the Stars), UTV Stars now plans to launch a similar ‘walk' in Delhi, and also in London and Dubai.
“When we first announced the project, we were encouraged by the excitement it generated within the industry. We also received feedback on how it can be enhanced. Meanwhile, we realised that there is a sizeable NRI population that should also be catered to,” says Nikhil. That propelled the channel to look beyond Bandstand at Bandra in Mumbai.
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“There is a lot of work to be done. We have to take note of the weather conditions in each of the cities we propose to go to. We have to customise our handprints and decide whether to make them in metal or marble,” he adds.
For the international locations, UTV Stars is looking at local tie-ups.
‘Walk of the Stars' will also include life-size brass statues of six Bollywood legends — Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. “We wanted a special section dedicated to the legends. It will make for a grand display,” says Nikhil.
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While handprints of actors such as Sharmila Tagore, Meena Kumari, Shammi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Sridevi, Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor have been confirmed, UTV Stars is looking at including Southern superstars in the project.
“We are in talks with Rajnikanth, Mohanlal and Venkatesh for the same,” says Nikhil.