When Amitabh Bachchan triggered a ‘national crisis’ in Egypt, he wondered ‘how did a third-rater from a third-rate country get this to happen’

Bachchan described the “uncontrollable” mob airport as a “national crisis” in a 1995 interview with India Today. The crowds that were there to welcome the star entered the customs hall and the situation got so out of control that the actor had to be whisked away from the airport. So much so that even his immigration formalities were done in the privacy of his hotel room as it was almost impossible for the star to stay at the airport.

“The crowds came into the customs hall. Would you believe that immigration formalities took place in my hotel room in Cairo? There was a national crisis. There was an inquiry on what went wrong – how did a third-rater from a third-rate country get this to happen,” he recalled in a 1995 interview with India Today.

In a blog post almost 20 years later, Amitabh Bachchan shared that this was the “first time in the history of any airline traveller, my immigration and customs and passport were conducted in my hotel room!” He added, “What followed after that has been recorded for posterity in tapes which I keep visiting to enhance any remote depressed conditioning that some of us often entertain.”

Amitabh Bachchan recalled that his film Mard had been in theatres in Egypt for two years. “Mard, I am told ran for 2 years here in Egypt, despite strict rulings on exhibition of foreign films, and because of its cult standing there is a large number that recognises and adulates moi.”

Amitabh Bachchan revisited Egypt in 2015 for the ‘India by the Nile’ festival.