If timesonline.com is to be believed, the ambitious Unforgettable Tour of the Bachchans has 'failed to expand Bollywood's appeal beyond the Indian diaspora'.
The article titled 'Bollywood's Unforgettable World Tour extravaganza fails to woo Westerners' suggests that the only people who have managed to catch the tour are members of the Indian diaspora.
"It must be galling," the article begins and points out that despite the huge fan following Bachchans have in India, their reach with the westerners remains restricted.
Zoe Blackler, who has authored this piece, has also quoted Shekhar Ravjiani of the Vishal-Shekhar duo as having said that 85 to 90 per cent of the audience are from the diaspora.
"Bollywood cinema is India's foremost artistic export, so the narrowness of these audiences is striking. It's hard to imagine a Bolshoi world tour playing to 90 per cent Russian migrs or the Berlin Philharmonic appealing exclusively to German expats," the article point out suggesting, "If anything was going to raise international awareness of Bollywood's unique brand of magic, this (Unforgettable Tour) should have been it."
Part of the problem, according to Balckler is the high pricing of the tickets. With each ticket costing up to 250, the only ones willing to spend that kind of money are the hardcore Bachchan fans.
The tour, which has been labelled as the Unaffordable Tour in Toronto, has received flack from many quarters. [IN PICS: Akshay rocks Canada]
One of the bloggers points out that a few years ago he managed to get good seats for $100 during the 'Rockstars' tour in Toronto. The same price fetched him one of the last row seats for Unforgettable." Regular tickets went beyond $300 and some floor seats sold for $1000," he rues.
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