MUMBAI: Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut’s name was recently in news for a possible appointment as an ambassador for Himachal Pradesh tourism. Now, it is the centre of a controversy regarding the actress’s refusal to lend her name to the cause unless she is paid a lot of money. Ranaut hails from the hill state.
State Tourism Development Board Vice Chairman Vijai Singh Mankotia blamed the bureaucracy for deliberately scuttling the proposal. He was the proposal’s sponsor and had asked for Ranaut to be appointed the Himachal Tourism’s brand ambassador.
But board member S.P. Katyal slammed the actress. “After negotiations, Kangana Ranaut said that she will charge Rs.45 lakh per day and all the other expenditure, including board and lodging for the entire unit and cost of shooting will be borne by the government,” he said in a statement.
“Therefore, it was costing more than Rs 2 crore for her single appearance. Even after this huge expenditure, the deliverable’s were not clear as to how many more tourists will arrive in the state after she promotes it,” he said.
Mankotia told the media on October 27, “the proposal to sign an agreement awaited government’s nod for over one and half years and now it has died its natural death.” He added that the actress was keen to popularise her home state but probably the state;s bureaucracy was not keen on the idea.
“She asked a huge amount of money for her appearance for the tourism department,” he said. “She was not insulted in any way, rather she inflicted insult on the people of the state by asking for huge money to promote the interests of the state,” Katyal said in a signed statement.
