Mumbai plans to wax its own Madame Tussauds

LONDON: Madame Tussauds, London’s most famous tourist attraction known for its life-size waxworks, plans to open a branch in Mumbai, featuring replicas of Bollywood and cricketing stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar.

The plan to open a Mumbai office is part of a concerted push by Madame Tussauds’ new owners — Dubai International Capital — to expand beyond the UK.

According to Robert Roger, the Madame Tussauds’ finance director, the waxwork attractions in Hong Kong and Shanghai are doing well.

“These overseas sites are thriving, thanks to extensive research into the quirks of local celebrity culture. In Shanghai, for instance, the most popular female waxwork is not Kylie Minogue nor a Chinese pop star but Audrey Hepburn.”

The company has already ascertained that Mumbai is an attractive market: it has a big enough population, combined with an obsession with celebrities. The company, according to its spokesman, has completed its £95 million acquisition of the London Eye from co-investors British Airways.