World famous wax museum Madame Tussauds is set to debut in India in June, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and American pop star Lady Gaga's statues as some of the star attractions.
"Madame Tussauds will open doors in June this year," Anshul Jain, India General Manager and Director of Merlin Entertainment Pvt Ltd, said in New Delhi in an announcement.
Speaking about investments, Jain said that Merlin Entertainment will invest £50 million in the next 10 years. "We spend around Rs 1.5 crore in one wax figure, we will make investments depending the location," Jain said.
The wax museum in the Regal Building will have a mix of 50 wax figures both national and international unlike its museums in other countries and cities where global personalities adorn Tussauds museum.
The museum will have both local and international wax figures in the ratio of 60-40 in Delhi. The wax figures will be manufactured in the studio in London and will be transported to Delhi like it is done for other cities where Tussauds museum is a major tourist attraction.
The museum, renowned for the creation of detailed and lifelike wax figures, will house statues of prominent figures from the world of sports, Bollywood and politics.
Bachchan is likely to attend the launch of the museum, which will be spread across the first and second floors of the Regal Cinema complex in Connaught Place.
This is the 23rd branch of Madame Tussauds across the world, and Merlin Entertainment is looking forward to a red carpet welcome.
"Many said that why Delhi when Mumbai is the Bollywood hub, but for us, Madame Tussauds is not just about entertainment, but representing wax statues or people from different walks of life," said Marcel Kloos, director, New Openings - Europe and emerging markets.
Indian celebrities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan, apart from Modi, are some of the names who already have their statues in international branches of Madame Tussauds.
