In what will be a rare honour for India, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan has been invited to carry the Olympic torch on the final leg of its relay on Thursday.
An overwhelmed Big B, tweeted about the impending event, `OK !! HERE IT IS : Have been invited by London Olympic Organizing Committee to carry the torch in the relay tomorrow..`
The face of Indian cinema and the country`s rich cultural heritage for over four decades, has been specially invited to be a part of the London Olympics.
Amitabh will carry the torch in the Southwark area in south London. Talking about the it, the 69-year-old megastar wrote on the micro-blogging site, `Honored to be asked to carry the Olympic Torch in London at Southwark around 10:30 AM !! A proud moment for me and country!`
The Indian star will be in hallowed company with United Nations (UN) secretary-general Ban Ki-moon among the dignitaries who will be the torchbearers on the relay`s final leg. Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and his 36-year-old son, Aditya, will also be among the individuals who will carry the Olympic torch a day before the Games begin.
The 32.7 mile relay has other legendary personalities from all over the world and all walks of life carrying the prestigious Olympics torch. Other eminent personalities, who will be a part of this event with Big B include Lawrence Dallaglio, Lewis Moody (England rugby players), Jim Anderson (novelist), Phil Packer (army hero and marathon man), Darren Fitzpatrick (Aussie Rules coach) and Tom Davis (2006 Commonwealth judo champion).
This is not the first time that Bollywood stars have been a part of the Olympic torch relay.
For the 2004 Athens Games, Euphoria lead singer Palash Sen, filmstars Aamir Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu and Rani Mukherjee had been among the torch bearers.
The torchbearers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics included Bollywood brother-sister duo of Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan.
Action star Akshay Kumar has had the honour of being the torch bearer for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
