AMITABH BACHCHAN - BOLLYWOOD PREMIERE AXED

BOLLYWOOD PREMIERE AXED

The premiere of a new Bollywood film has been scrapped amid security fears after lead actor AMITABH BACHCHAN's wife was caught up in a bitter row over languages.
The first showing of The Last Lear was due to take place in Mumbai this week (begs08Sep08), but has been called off after protesters smashed windows at a shopping mall where it was due to be screened.
Posters advertising the English-language movie in the city have also been defaced.
It follows a dispute between politician Raj Thackeray and Bachchan's wife Jaya after she made comments apparently favouring Hindi over Marathi, the local language in Mumbai.
Commenting on his website, Bachchan wrote: "The casual, off-the-cuff remarks made by her were without malice or deliberate intent. If inadvertently this is what has been construed, then we apologise and are sorry and seek forgiveness for any sentiments that have been hurt."
But despite Bachchan's efforts to defuse the row, the premiere was pulled over safety concerns.
Shubho Shekhar Bhattacharjee, boss of Planman Motion Pictures, said: "We have just called off the premiere because there has been some incidents that happened where it was to have been held. We didn't want to put our guests at risk."