Thaindian News

Mumbai, Nov 25 (IANS) Lifelike wax statues of former Indian cricket star Kapil Dev and Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal were unveiled here Friday by Lonavala’s Celebrity Wax Museum.

The statues have been crafted by India’s top wax sculptor Sunil Kandalloor in the past few weeks and will be put on permanent display at the Lonavala museum, its director Sujith Sukumaran said.

Both Kapil Dev and Bhujbal present at the unveiling ceremony at Hotel Taj Mahal here evening and posed alongside their wax duplicates before a gathering which included several celebrities.

Kapil Dev and Bhujbal showered lavish praise on the statues and complimented the sculptor for doing a commendable job.

Speaking on the occasion, Bhujbal urged the need to set up the Celebrity Wax Museum in Mumbai which could boost tourism attractions available in the country’s commercial capital.

He also suggested that Sukumaran should consider creating statues of more people from different walks of life besides Hollywood, Bollywood, political and social celebrities.

Last Sunday, a wax statue of Anna Hazare went on display at the museum.

The air-conditioned museum at Varsoli village, outskirts of Lonavala, has statues of 32 other prominent personalities including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, Michael Jackson, Mother Teresa and Oscar winning music director A. R. Rahman, besides several other living and dead legends.

In the coming weeks, Sukumaran said he plans to create and install similar wax statues of actors Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.