Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was awarded an honorary doctorate for his services to cinema Thursday in a ceremony in Australia featuring congratulations from renowned director Baz Luhrmann.
Bachchan initially turned down the award from the Queensland University of Technology two years ago due to a wave of violent attacks on Indian students which strained diplomatic relations between Canberra and New Delhi.
But the 69-year-old said he felt the situation had now been resolved and the time had come to accept what he described as a great honour.
“It’s been a very warm welcome. I’ve only been seeing smiling faces and experiencing great hospitality. That was something that was an aberration and it’s over now,” Bachchan said of the attacks.
He was bestowed the honorary doctorate, awarded for his “outstanding contribution to creative industries over several decades”, in an intimate ceremony in Brisbane which featured a video-link appearance by Luhrmann.
Bachchan just finished work on the Australian director’s remake of the Great Gatsby featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in Sydney, and said he was a long-time admirer of his work.
The Indian cinema veteran, who has starred in more than 180 Bollywood films, also launched a creative industries scholarship in the name of his late father Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and said he hoped to strengthen ties with Australia.
“Education helps us to strengthen and fortify convictions not to be swayed by preoccupation of cast and creed, race and religion,” he said.
“I do believe large numbers of Indian students seek education in Australia and I hope that continues to grow.”
Bachchan first became popular in the 1970s and is one of Indian cinema’s most prominent figures, receiving numerous awards and accolades including three National Film Awards and 12 Filmfare Awards.
A member of India’s parliament between 1984 and 1987, Bachchan also worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and has received a number of the nation’s highest civilian honours.
“To find myself in a foreign country, and to have this recognition from them is truly amazing,” he said of his Australian doctorate.
“I do not have enough words to thank you for having bestowed on me this great honour. I value it a lot.”
