Priyanka Chopra ‘trends’ in Assam assembly
Quantico actor Priyanka Chopra on Tuesday ‘trended’ in the unlikeliest of places — the 126-member Assam assembly.
Assam Tourism had last year signed Chopra as its brand ambassador. A deal was accordingly signed with her firm Purple Pebble Pictures (PPP).
But her campaign for the ‘Awesome Assam’ campaign drew widespread criticism.
The tagline, “Naturally Wild: Kyunki Yeh Assam Hai” rubbed many up the wrong way.
On Tuesday, the second day of the three-day special session of the assembly, opposition parties sought to know the details about the deal with Chopra.
Tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the department signed a two-year contract with PPP but did not specify the fee to be paid to Chopra for the job. Sarma had last year, before the deal, said the actor would campaign “free of cost”.
The pressure on the government mounted after several political and social organisations, including the influential Assam Students’ Union, felt public money had been wasted on Chopra.
“The government has paid ₹2.37 crore to Purple Pebbles for the promotional project,” Sarma told the house.
He also said the department had spent ₹42 lakh on Chopra and her team’s visit to Guwahati in February this year. More publicity material, he added, would be finalised by May 15.
The tourism department had in August last year approached Chopra after three other celebrities — cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor — reportedly declined the offer.
The deal with Chopra’s PPP was inked in December last year.
The expenditure on Chopra’s visit earlier in February had stirred a controversy. The ‘Naturally Wild’ ad that followed left many with a bad taste.
Gaurav Gogoi, one of Assam’s Congress MPs, wrote on microblogging site Twitter: “Awesome Assam is not going to promote tourism. It's damaging our state's public image and brand.”
Assamese playback singer Queen Hazarika said, “Assam has mention in epics like Mahabharata... Kamakhya Temple, 600-year-old Ahom legacy, etc. can't be summarised as Naturally Wild."
Another tweet by Bidyut Bikash Das read: “Naturally Wild, kyunki yeh Assam hain?" @priyankachopra seriously. Seemed like an ad of #Manforce rather than #Assamtourism #assam”.