Big B was in the city for Kolkata International Film Festival (courtesy SrBachchan)
Highlights
- Big B was travelling in an agency-hired Mercedes
- Big B was on his way to the Kolkata airport
- Big B was in the city for the Kolkata International Film Festival
Amitabh Bachchan was in Kolkata last weekend to inaugurate the
23rd edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival on November 10. The following day, Big B was on his way to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose airport when one of the rear wheels of his car came off, reported news agency PTI. Big B was travelling in an agency-hired Mercedes and travelling with him was West Bengal state minister Subrata Mukherjee. After the car was stopped, Big B was escorted to Mr Mukherjee's car, which was also part of the convoy, in which he was finally driven to the airport. A senior official of the state secretariat told the news agency that a legal notice for penalty has already been sent to the travel agency in charge of Big B's transportation across the city.
"The wheel on the left rear-end of the Mercedes carrying Bachchan got detached from the vehicle on Dufferin Road when he was going to the airport to catch a flight for Mumbai on Saturday morning," the senior secretariat member told PTI. "The car was provided by a travel agency and we have show-caused it over the incident," he added. The official also said that an initial investigation led to the discovery that the vehicle's "certificate of fitness" had expired.
On the inaugural day of the Kolkata International Film Festival, Amitabh Bachchan was joined on stage by several other film industry biggies like Kamal Haasan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Mahesh Bhatt. West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the star guests at the event.
Sharing photos from the event on Twitter, Big B wrote: "Inaugurating KIFF, the International Film Festival in Kolkata... and the joy of being among dear colleagues and friends... and the love of the people of Kolkata... thank you all."
Amitabh Bachchan is safely back home now and will be celebrating granddaughter Aaradhya's sixth birthday today. Across country, Kolkata International Film Festival has been screening 144 films from 65 countries over the week at 12 different venues.
(With PTI inputs)