Hong Kong: Madame Tussauds' Hong Kong facility is to add famous Indians like Amitabh Bachchan among its display if there is a demand, a senior company executive has said.

"If there is a specific public demand for a famous Indian personality, we are willing to consider the people's request," general manager of the world famous celebrity wax portrait exhibition at Hong Kong, Edward Fuller said.

Presently, the lone wax portrait of an Indian in the Madame Tussauds' at Hong Kong is of Mahatma Gandhi. The only other South Asian figure is former Pakistan Premier Benazir Bhutto.

Asked why the centre at Hong Kong has not included Bachchan among the exhibits in the 'movie-world' category while that of Hong Kong action stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan are there, Fuller said they went by public demand.

"If the Indian tourists, who visit Madame Tussauds' in Hong Kong, demands inclusion of Bachchan, we are ready to consider their request," he told reminding that their London exhibition has a portrait of the Bollywood actor.

"Bollywood is on our radar screen," he said, while urging Indians to take part in Madame Tussauds' opinion polls.

Fuller, who is impressed by the high growth in Indian tourists to Hong Kong, said Madame Tussauds' in Hong Kong has over 100 life-like wax figures and would be adding more to attract tourists from the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong is currently the only Asian city to host the famed Madame Tussauds', which has a 200-year history.

The Hong Kong facility was opened in August 2000 at a cost of 120 million Hong Kong Dollars ($ 15 million). Apart from London, Madame Tussauds' currently operates in Amsterdam, Las Vegas and New York.

"Madame Tussauds' is a unique attraction where visitors can interact with incredibly realistic likenesses of celebrities, movie stars, sporting heroes and world leaders, get close and even be photographed with them," Fuller said.

Fuller said almost all of the celebrities at Madame Tussauds' have given a sitting to Tussauds' sculptors, who take detailed measurements and over 200 photographs from every possible angle to ensure the portrait's originality.

"Even the hair on the portrait's head is inserted manually one by one to give an incredible match with those of the real celebrity," he said while explaining the process of making a life-like wax figure.

The process of creating a likeness usually takes about six months from the initial sitting and the costs around 350,000 Hong Kong Dollars, he said, adding all the portraits are made in the Madame Tussauds' studios in London.

PTI