MUMBAI: Recreating the viral 'Oscar selfie', which featured several Hollywood stars in one picture, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tonight posed with Bollywood superstars as a sign of the "great friendship" between India and Israel.
Netanyahu was at "Shalom Bollywood" event in Mumbai, where top stars from the industry were present, including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, and filmmaker Karan Johar.
"I want everyone in Indian and Israel to know about the phenomenal friendship between our countries. So I've an idea.
One of the most viral pictures took place at the Oscars where several celebrities took a selfie together," he said.
"So I want all the Bollywood actors, directors, producers present here to join me right now for a selfie so millions of people can see the great friendship between the two countries," Netanyahu added.
Posing for the selfie were Bollywood guests like Bachchan and his family, Johar, Randhir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Sara Ali Khan, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, Madhur Bhandarkar, Nikkhil Advani, Abhishek Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, lyricist Prasoon Joshi among others.
Aishwarya along with producer Ronnie Screwvala welcomed the prime minister and the first lady, Sara Netanyahu.
Karan Johar's production "Drive" became the first Bollywood film to be shot in Israel for which Johar along with Dharma Productions CEO Apoorva Mehta were felicitated by Netanyahu.
At the event, Bachchan gave the keynote address where he spoke about how, from a time when acting in films was looked down upon, today Bollywood has become a parallel culture.
Bachchan, 75, said when "we as a community watch films in a darkened hall, we never ask the caste or creed, or colour or religion of the person sitting next to us. We enjoy the same film, laugh at the same joke, cry at the same emotion. In a world where we see humanity disintegrating in front of us, cinema is perhaps (among) the few yet prominent entities that bring people together." Netanyahu in his address quipped that Bachchan has "30 million more followers than me on Twitter" and stressed how if India and Israel come together, "magic will happen." Also present at the event was Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Choreographer Terence Lewis along with his group brought the curtain down with a dance medley.
"You have seen what you find in Israel. In an hour's drive, you have snow, the beaches, the desert, you have the salty sea, a sweet lake, great Indian food. I love Indian food, but it's not only this. It is not only great locations," he said.
Extending an open invitation, Netanyahu added that Israel and Bollywood "can create magic" by forging partnerships with its technology giants.
Netanyahu, who was here with his wife Sara, also shared some lighter moments as he quipped that his speech would be in Hindi.
Later, he called the Bollywood celebrities on stage for an Oscar-style encore.
"One of the most viral pictures of all time took place at the Oscars, and several celebrities including Brad Pitt took a selfie. So I want the all the Bollywood celebrities, producers and stars to join together for a selfie. Let a few hundred million people see the friendship," he said.
The tech-savvy Amitabh stepped up with a selfie stick to capture the crowded moment with the Netanyahu couple becoming the star attraction for the evening.
Later, Netanyahu tweeted the photograph, and wrote: "Will my Bollywood selfie beat Hollywood selfie at the Oscars?"
He signed off the memorable "Shalom Bollywood" event with a "Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Israel".