NEW DELHI: Be it Leonardo DiCaprio’s secret date with the Taj Mahal, Nicole Kidman’s Delhi visit or the entertaining entry of the “Games of Thrones” giant Kristian Nairn at Comic Con here, 2015 was a treat for Indian fans of Hollywood stars as they took the eastern route.
Avoiding media glare and limelight, Hollywood superstar DiCaprio paid a quiet visit to the Taj Mahal, Agra in October. The 40-year-old “Inception” star was in India to shoot an untitled documentary on climate change.
The actor, who starred alongside Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in 2013 film “The Great Gatsby”, spent around two hours and showed keen interest in the fascinating history of the 17th century white marble mausoleum, a world heritage site.
The monument’s beauty perhaps also allured Orlando Bloom as the “Pirates of The Caribbean” star made his maiden India visit.
His trip was, however, marred by a visa issue. He was initially turned away because he did not have a valid visa. The actor was finally able to enter India after the External Affairs Ministry intervened and granted him a visa.
It was a double dose of Hollywood beauties in India as actresses Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman came visiting here. While Kidman’s visit was for a summit in the capital, Longoria’s was a more personal one and the “Desperate Housewives” diva was pictured spending having a great time with school girls.
Kidman spoke about how she was never offered a Bollywood film but she was in love with Hindi movies and felt it was difficult to adapt the cinema here in a format in Hollywood.
Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett lent international star power to a summit of “Women in the World” organisation in Delhi.
After surprising Delhi fans with an impromptu gig at an eating joint in July, American musician Chris Martin was back to India with his band Coldplay, this time to shoot a video with kids here.
According to the photographs that surfaced online, Martin and other Coldplay members Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion were seen playing holi with the children.
The four musicians, who had their faces covered in hues of pink and blue, were pictured enjoying with the kids as they were all smiles during the making of the video.
Some fans posted their pictures with the 38-year-old star on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
A fan also shared a few seconds of video, which showed Martin thanking the crowd after the shoot. “We are really very thankful,” Martin was seen telling them. His trip, like last time, was kept discreet reportedly to avoid media attention.
In July, Martin was in the country for a charity event for The Global Poverty Project, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to seeing an end to extreme poverty by 2030.
He was joined on-stage by Indian composer-singer Vishal Dadlani for the jamming session in Delhi.
Kristian Nairn, who is famous for saying just one word Hodor in globally popular show “Game of Thrones”, was a guest at the Comic Con festival here. The actor was surprised and delighted to know how popular he and his TV show was in India.
He was seen interacting with fans in Delhi and also dodging queries about the upcoming sixth season of the fantasy series.
“Downton Abbey” star Hugh Bonneville shot as Lord Mountbatten in Jodhpur for Gurinder Chaddha’s next, “Viceroy”.
The acclaimed actor was all praise for the beauty of Jodhpur and was quoted saying that he loved shooting there.
Bonneville will be seen working with veteran Indian actor Om Puri and “Gangs of Wasseypur” actress Huma Qureshi in the film.
Hollywood actress Mandy Moore also visited India as part of her work as a global goodwill ambassador of NGO PSI.
It was also an India calling for “Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood, “Terminator” actor Arnold Schwarznegger and “Guns n Roses” fame musician Slash.
Hollywood biggies in India is surely a sign that India is becoming increasingly popular with the international artists and they are recognising the value of Indian market and locations. (PTI)
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