Befitting the role of ''saviour'' he has been playing in numerous films over the past several years, Amitabh Bacchan has proved to be the benefactor for two minor girls in Bihar, who had been abandoned by their parents here last year under tragic circumstances.

Moved by the plight of Anjali and Rim Jhim, aged five and seven years respectively, as shown on a national TV channel recently, Amitabh, playing the role of a good samaritan, had come forward and offered to bear the entire cost of their schooling as well as higher studies.

According to informed sources here, Anjali and Rim Jhim were the daughters of a Muzaffarpur-based petty businessman who had been facing a severe financial crisis for the past few years and had almost become a pauper after he was convicted by a local court and faced a jail term.

They came to Patna last year and somehow admitted the girls to a residential school.

However, this year, when their fees became long overdue, the school authorities tried to contact their parents. They were taken by surprise when they discovered that the address given to them did not exist.

The authorities, however, left no stone unturned to trace the parents, but to no avail, leaving the children in a terrible condition with uncertain future looming large on them.

But last week, when a national TV channel brought the 'humane issue' to the fore, it drew Big B's attention, who lost no time in expressing his benevolent intention.

The same channel also showed Mr Bachchan's close friend and Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh announcing the decision on behalf of the superstar on January 18, bringing a ray of hope for the abandoned children.

Meanwhile, in a twist to the entire episode, the children's mother suddenly turned up at the school in downtown Patna and sought to take them back. She reportedly stated that they were forced to take the extreme step in wake of abject poverty after their family business ran into rough weather.

Incidentally, the Bachhan family has reporteldy invited the two sisters to a function at Barabanki in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh on January 25 where Mr Bachchan is scheduled to inaugurate an educational institution in the name of Aishwariya Bachchan, informed sources here said.