Ambanis to Bachchan invited

Ayodhya: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family as well as Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan are among those who feature in a select state guest list of invitees to the consecration of the Ram temple next week. While about 8,000 people are in the long list of invitees, the select list features just a few hundred people, including prominent politicians, leading industrialists, top film stars, sportspersons, bureaucrats and diplomats.

According to the list, which PTI has accessed, Bachchan will fly into Ayodhya in a private chartered plane for the opening of the 161-feet tall pink sandstone shrine. From the film industry, the list features actors Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Allu Arjun, Mohanlal, Anupam Kher and Chiranjeevi. Besides, sarod maestro Amjad Ali, lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir and his wife, lyricist and writer Prasoon Joshi, and directors Sanjay Bhansali and Chandraprakash Dwivedi are invited too. Also on the list are billionaire Mukesh Ambani, his mother Kokilaben, wife Neeta, sons Akash and Anant, daughter-in-law Shloka and would-be-daughter-in-law Radhika Merchant.