It's official! Amir Khan will no more be the part of Incredible India campaign. He will be replaced by Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra.
Bachchan and Chopra are the new face of the campaign related to Indian tourism. According to the Times of India report, Centre decided to end Khan's contract after he made comments on perceived intolerance in India.
In November 2015, Khan stirred massive controversy when he revealed that his wife Kiran Rao had asked him if she should move out of the country for the safety of their children as instances of intolerance in the country are rising.
Khan has been leading international marketing campaign for Government of India to promote tourism in India as a brand ambassador for last 10 years. He has often appeared in ads educating local population about good behaviour towards the foreign tourists. However, Khan's comments have seemingly hurt the sentiments of the Government.
It is said that several famous personalities from multifaceted fields were considered to become the new mascot of Incredible India campaign before Bachchan and Chopra were finalised. Meanwhile, one of the suggestions included bringing a female personality as the face of the "Atithi Devo Bhava" campaign
"Our contract was with the McCann Worldwide agency for 'Atithi Devo Bhava' campaign. The agency had hired Aamir for the job. Now the contract with the agency is over. Ministry has not hired Aamir," Mahesh Sharma the minister of tourism said as quoted by Hindustan Times. "It was the agency which has hired him. Since the contract with the agency is no more, automatically the arrangement with the actor no longer exists," he added.
It was speculated that the actor has been expelled from the campaign due to his comments. However, the authorities have denied the speculation and attributed the change to the expiry of the actor's contract. Previously, the government depended on the agency for the recruitment of the brand ambassador. Sources report change in the practice as the new brand ambassadors of the campaign has been signed directly by the tourism ministry of India.
It is reported that the official announcement regarding Bachchan and Chopra becoming the new face of Incredible India will be made after Jan. 26.
