Brisbane: Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan was today awarded an honorary doctorate by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. "I am truly overwhelmed and immensely pleased to be the recipient of such a distinction," 69-year-old Bachchan said after receiving his fourth doctorate for his contribution to the world of entertainment.
"The recognition of my contribution to Indian cinema and its effort to reach out to an international community fills me with intense pride and humility - pride for being able to be a link between Australian and Indian professionals of the film and creative industries and humility for a chance to be the medium in doing so. May this help strengthen the existing bonds between our two countries," he said.
This is the fourth doctorate awarded to the actor. He was earlier conferred upon by the De Montfort Univ, Leicester UK, Jhansi University and the Delhi University. The actor had two years back turned down the honorary doctorate from QUT as a mark of protest against racial attacks on Indian students.
Australia's High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese congratulated the Bollywood superstar on his honorary Australian doctorate. "I congratulate Bachchan on his honorary doctorate from QUT, an important academic institution in my home city of Brisbane. Bachchan has made an inestimable contribution to global cinema and this prestigious award is a marker of the impact of his films in Australia," he said.
"The rise of Bollywood in Australia reflects the phenomenal growth that is taking place across the spectrum of the Australia-India relationship, from booming trade and investment to education links and two-way tourism," Varghese said.
"I want to thank Bachchan for his enormous contribution to global cinema. In accepting this award he will encourage the important cultural conversation between India and Australia," Varghese said in a statement.
The Queensland University of Technology conferred the award during a ceremony at Old Government House in Brisbane this morning. The legendary actor, who has just finished shooting for his first Hollywood film 'The Great Gatsby', travelled from Sydney to accept the honour.
The prolific actor is playing a shady businessman Meyer Wolfsheim alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale of the jazz age.
The actor will also launch an international travel bursary at QUT in the name of his late father Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a leading Indian poet of the 20th century and the second Indian to receive a doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University.
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