Friday, January 13 2006 15:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Panaji: Not content with his apology, the anti-tobacco NGOs that had issued a legal notice against Amitabh Bachchan have asked the actor to express his solidarity with the movement in public.

"We have appealed to the megastar to appear in electronic and print media and denounce smoking. He can send a loud and clear message that he is a teetotaller and hates smoking", Shekhar Salkar, General Secretary, National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) told sources here today (Jan 13,2006).

NOTE had issued legal notice to Bachchan in connection with a hoarding on NH 17 in Goa, displaying him smoking a cigar. Bachchan had apologised stating that he was unaware of the hoarding and must have been displayed by the publicity firms of his 'Family'.

"Let your fans realise that you do not endorse tobacco in any form and this simple of act would save millions of innocent lives and families", Salkar has said in a letter to Bachchan seeking his support for the anti-tobacco movement.

The NGO has also invited Bachchan for the National Tobacco Control Conference organised by 'NGOs Act India' and 'Hriday Shaan' and hosted by Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai.

"The conference would be held for three days between January 27 and January 29 and Bachchan can visit the conference and express his solidarity," Salkar said.

"We would love to have Bachchan as our ambassador for anti-tobacco movement as his words count and is a real and reel-life hero of the millennium," he added.