'The Unforgettable Tour' is unviable!
The first leg of the Bachchan's 'The Unforgettable Tour' has failed to attract audiences beyond the NRIs settled abroad. This fact has been highlighted in prominent Western media.
'The Unforgettable Tour' marked Amitabh Bachchan's comeback to the stage after a huge gap of almost 20 years. The first leg of the tour included prominent cities in the USA and Canada, Trinidad and Tobago. The Tour performed in London on Sunday 24th August. But the Bachchans and the organizers need to admit that while the shows have been filled with committed fans from the Indian subcontinent, they have failed to draw in the Western crowds. They had a great opportunity to raise international awareness of Bollywood's unique brand of magic, but have failed on this count.
Times London writes with regard to the tour's failure to woo Westerners - "Part of the problem could be financial. Promoters have been charging as much as £250 for a ticket, and with the credit crunch sliding towards recession on both sides of the Atlantic, it's not surprising only the most diehard fans are prepared to fork out."
Even the Bachchans' greatest admirers in Trinidad and Tobago were shocked at the prices they were being asked to pay. Local promoter Mahendra Persad complained that even with the inflated ticket price, the exorbitant cost of accommodating the Bachchans, with their vast retinue and extravagant props, had rendered the venture financially unviable.
In Toronto, it was dubbed the 'Unaffordable World Tour'. And in Vancouver, the planned show was cancelled when it failed to sell out; the tour's producer Wiz Viraf Sarkari, blamed this failure on the local promoter.
