I would like to believe Narendra Modi is secular: Amitabh Bachchan

What surprised everybody was your friendship with Narendra Modi. People thought you were earlier almost obsessively anti-communal. But Modi has a communal image.

Is there some kind of a constitutional law that says that somebody has some political belief and therefore you can't be friends with him? Everybody has the freedom to be friends with anyone. You are talking about my role in promoting Gujarat, which is part of my country. Modi is a constitutionally elected chief minister of a state. Deny him that, and then talk to me.

Do you believe Narendra Modi is a secular man?

I would like to believe so. Why not? He just won an election, and the largest number of votes came from an area where he had a Muslim candidate. Once the country is constitutionally secular, why should you think otherwise? Even the BJP has Muslim leaders. We are one country. I'm promoting Gujarat. I'm not promoting Narendra Modi. If there were another CM, I'd still promote Gujarat. And I don't charge for promoting my country. There were accusations made that I am doing it to win a BJP ticket for my wife, and build a film city there. Doh mahine tak aap logo ne gaali diya humko. Hua kya usme?

The programme has done extremely well in Gujarat. Gir forest has got full bookings this year. Some other state governments had said negative, rude things about my involvement in Gujarat. After they saw the results, they said, "Hey."

So you are not wrong?

You tell me what am I doing wrong? If I want to promote a particular part of my country, is that wrong? Where are those who were accusing me of taking money, that I've taken Rs. 150 crore? I have documents to prove I have done it for free. I've done this for years. For Gwalior fort, Golconda fort, a fort in Tirupati, for Jallianwalla Bagh, for a Sikh museum. I am doing it for Akshardham. Just because I don't talk about these things, people say whatever they like. Do you know Gujarat has the largest number of heritage sites in the country? Every time a celebrity gets involved in something, people always find a way to criticise. Never a good word.

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