School in Bahu's Name - Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

Lucknow, Jan. 22: Call it playing the perfect pa-in-law.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan has decided to gift a girls’ school to the people of Daulatpur and the buzz is he will name it after “hamari bahu” Aishwarya.

What exactly the name will be has yet to be worked out, but sources close to Bachchan quoted him as saying “it will bear Aishwarya’s name”.

The school, to be built on a 1.09-acre plot in Barabanki district, has revived whispers about the dispute the actor was involved in last year. But this plot — No. 711 — is different, though close to No. 702 that is now owned by the gram sabha.

The foundation-laying ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, at which Bachchan is expected to unveil a plaque carrying his name. Three former chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu — are likely to attend, apart from the star-studded Bachchan clan.

Although Bachchan baiters have been questioning his motive in building the school and even alleging “he wants to clear his conscience”, a former Mulayam minister said the actor merely wanted to contribute his bit to increase literacy among girls.

The actor had floated such a suggestion even in the middle of the legal wrangle last year in which he has been cleared by Allahabad High Court.

“Why didn’t Bachchan talk about the school before the dispute? It has come as an afterthought. But good sense, whenever it comes, is welcome,” a Bahujan Samaj Party leader said.

“We would call it a school to clear his conscience.”

A spokesperson in the Delhi office of Bachchan’s wife Jaya confirmed the Barabanki inauguration on Sunday. He said the proposal for the school had been announced last year.

“Mr Bachchan does not need any counselling from anyone on his social commitments,” Arvind Singh Gope, a Samajwadi member, said.

Samajwadi Party sources said the school was likely to be run by a trust and would provide free education to girls from underprivileged families.

- TheTelegraphInidia