Bollywood actor Ajay Devgn and his wife Kajol have reportedly refused to be the brand ambassadors of Andhra Pradesh Tourism after an oral communication in this regard reached the government, Deccan Chronicle reported.
Quoting sources, the report adds:
The actor has reportedly placed another proposal before the government that if he was given land in AP, he was ready to take up the construction of a Dubai-model virtual technology studio. There was no progress from the government side on this, which reportedly reportedly prompted the Bollywood couple to drop the idea of becoming brand ambassadors of AP Tourism.
This follows reports that the actor was unhappy with the state's 'lack of professional approach.'
The Times of India had earlier reported:
The actor's team was in touch with the state administration after chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's advice to them. But the momentum was lost as the AP officials did not begin the process of inviting expression of interest (EoI) from reputed brand-building-cum-advertising agencies to kick off the campaign which Ajay Devgn was keen to do.
"Though top agencies come at a fancy price, they are much more professional. The campaign is aimed at having pan-India appeal to attract tourists to AP. The actor's team said that they were not interested in taking up the job unless the brand-building is done by a reputed advertising firm and not by a local agency," TOI had quoted a source as saying.
After meeting Naidu in April, Devgn had said that he was keen to invest in the state's upcoming capital Amaravati, and added in a statement:
I’ve been working in Hyderabad for the past 25 years and I’ve seen the city change and grow under his (Naidu's) rule and the change was dramatic. With someone like him at the helm, this place and the surrounding areas are also ready for change. It’s good for him and good for the place also. There are some things we have spoken about. It’s too early to say anything about it now. I’ll talk about it in my next visit.
His wife Kajol was going to be the co-promoter of the state.