Cinema dynasty stages London show

They are the biggest stars to grace Bollywood's silver screen, an acting dynasty of mythical proportions. Now the Bachchans, India's best-known acting family, are exporting their brand globally. Tomorrow night Amitabh Bachchan, the godfather of Indian cinema, will star with his son Abhishek and his daughter-in-law, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, India's biggest female star, in the first Bollywood show to be held at the O2 arena in London. As part of a 28-city tour across five continents, the Bollywood royal family will be joined in London by a cast of 130, and erstwhile Celebrity Big Brother star Shilpa Shetty, for three hours of upbeat Hindi song, painstakingly choreographed dance routines and lashings of glitz and glamour. Big B, as Amitabh is known, has not done a tour of this kind for nearly a decade. Speaking before the tour, the 65-year-old star - who with more than 130 top-grossing films to his name is treated like a deity in India - said it was to reciprocate his fans' affection: "It is strenuous, but the love of the fans is so strong, we decided on this." But high ticket prices and controversial film subjects have left some fans feeling forgotten and disenchanted, said Asjad Nazir, showbiz editor for the Asian newspaper Eastern Eye. The Bachchans were not the force in Indian cinema that they once had been, he added. "Between them they have had a wretched run at the box office in the past few years. Recently the Bachchans are too much about the brand, too much about cashing in on the brand and not enough about the films." With O2 tickets ranging from £38.50 to £250 there is a price to suit a range of fans, with the design of the arena enabling even those in the cheap seats to get a good view, said Viraf Sarkari, director of Wizcraft International, producers of the show.