Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be immortalised in wax at Madame Tussauds, the Hindu reported on Wednesday.
Modi will join the ranks of prominent global leaders at Madame Tussauds in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok next month, the world famous wax museum announced on Wednesday.
Modi has a “massive social media presence” and there is “intense public interest” in him, the company was quoted as saying.
Describing him as a “hugely important figure in world politics”, the museum said the Indian prime minister had given the museum’s team of artists and experts a sitting at his residence in New Delhi earlier this year.
“Madame Tussauds has crafted figures of very distinguished dignitaries from around the world — how could I regard myself worthy of being alongside them? But when I was informed that your decision had emanated from public opinion and public sentiment, I was comforted,” Modi said in a statement to the museum.
“During my sitting, I observed the team carefully and was deeply impressed by its dedication, professionalism and skill.”
“I have visited Madame Tussauds three or four times and had the pleasure of getting myself photographed standing next to the figures of various dignitaries,” the Indian premier said.
I was deeply impressed by the dedication, professionalism and skill of the team, said Modi.
“We are delighted to be including the prime minister’s figure in our attractions in London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok,” said museum spokesperson Kieran Lancini.
Each figure took a team of Madame Tussauds’ artists four months and cost around 150,000 pounds to create.
“Guests will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder and measure up to one of the most powerful men in the world — and even grab a selfie when the figures arrive in their locations,” the museum said.
Twitter is all amused, of course
The announcement was greeted with humour and sarcasm by people on Twitter, who made references to events that have made headlines in the past. This included an instance when Modi had pushed Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg for getting in the way of a photograph.
modi gets measured out for madame tussauds, bjp fears dummy may be more expressive pic.twitter.com/z4t5Nx5V33
— Hartosh Singh Bal (@HartoshSinghBal) March 16, 2016
PM Modi will soon have his wax statue at Madame Tussauds.
At the launch he’ll push his own statue away to get a better picture.
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) March 16, 2016