Only Gandhi and Shah Rukh Khan did it in Paris!

He was unveiled in the presence of Albert Einstein, Charles De Gaulle, Mahatma Gandhi, Michael Jackson, John Paul II, Elvis Presley and Alfred Hitchcock at France's Grévin Museum in Paris, Monday, April 28, 2008. After Mahatma Gandhi, Shah Rukh Khan, India's biggest film star, became the second Indian to have his wax work at prestigious Grévin. Bachchans are yet to reach there, writes Kathy Robinson from Paris for India EU Film Initiative.

Welcome outside Grevin Museum in parisParis, April 28: They came a le Bollywood style- limousines, TV crews and autograph hunters. Bollywood watchers were screaming with excitement while those who had never heard of the world's largest film producing factory looked quite amused by this spectacle. Accompanied by filmmaker Karan Johar and wife Gauri Khan, Bollywood's biggest star Shah Rukh Khan, dressed in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket, arrived in a limousine at Grévin Wax Museum in Paris where his life-size wax-work was unveiled.

France, after watching the Bollywood phenomenon in the UK, has been mystified by its crowd-pulling power. The country attracted 79.1 million foreign tourists in 2006 (surpassing its population), a 4.2% increase compared to 2005, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world. Unveiling Shah Rukh Khan's wax statue at Grévin is another attempt to remain on the top as more and more Indian tourists travel abroad, admit officials.

The Grevin staff admit tacitly they had not seen such enthusiasm since Michael Jackson's unveiling at Grevin.

The event was organised in partnership with the Indian tour leader Cox and Kings, the Office de Tourisme in Paris and Maison de la France, the Hotel Meurice, the Commission des films d’Ile de France and Bodega Films. Indian companies also chipped in.

There's a bit of rivalry going on between Tussauds and Grevin. London's Madam Tussauds is hugely popular among Indian tourists who visit the UK. In fact, many tourists go to London just to see the wax versions of celebrities, including Indira Gandhi, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. Now, French want to repeat this success story at their historical Grevin Musee in the sumptuous decor created in 1882, the Hall of Columns and the Dome, Paris.

SRK with his wax at Grevin Museum in ParisFirst, French honoured India's biggest film star Shah Rukh Khan with the Insignia of Officer in the Order of Arts and Literature, prestigious award bestowed by the French government. And, now they have unveiled his wax work with an eye on India's mushrooming middle-class tourists who can't breath without Bollywood and Cricket. Who knows Tendulkar could be the third one after Gandhi!

“The Indian actor, famous worldwide and an idol in his own country, has done us the great honour of travelling all the way from India for the unveiling of his wax-work image, created in the Grévin workshops,” says the Grevin Museum.

Khan posed for Grevin in July last year.

Grévin History

At the end of the 19th Century, Arthur Meyer, a journalist and founder of the famous daily newspaper Le Gaulois, conceived the idea of showing his contemporaries 3D representations of the front-page celebrities in his newspaper. At a time when the press did not use photography he thought of creating a place where the public could at last “put a face” on the people in the news.

To achieve this original project, he called on Alfred Grévin, who was a cartoonist, sculptor, and designer of theatrical costumes, and who became so involved that in the end, the project bore his name. When the Grévin opened its doors to the public on 5th June 1882, it was an immediate success!

In 1883, Gabriel Thomas, a distinguished investor who had previously backed the companies running the Eiffel Tower and the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, gave the Grévin a business-like economic structure to enable rapid expansion. He also enriched the site with new decors which are today its very precious heritage, such as the Grévin Theatre, which is listed on the inventory of Historical Monuments, or the Hall of Mirrors (Palais des Mirages) that had been part of the 1900 "Exposition Universelle".

More than a century later, still faithful to the spirit of its three founding fathers, this unique site continues to provide the public with the astounding possibility of "seeing with their own eyes" the celebrities in the news, says the Grevin Museum literature.

The sculpture
Italian actress Monica Bellucci with her wax work
Several sculptors work full time for the Grévin. Clay models of faces are made with the portrayed person sitting for the artist, or based on photographic documents. Bodies are modelled in clay using stand-ins.
The moulding

Once the sculpture is completed, a plaster and elastomere mould is made. Into this mould, wax is cast for the face, and resin for the body.

The face

After extraction from the mould, the wax head goes to the make-up shop. The eyes, of medical grade precision, are made of glass and frequently selected in the presence of the celebrity concerned. Hair is natural, and each one is implanted individually. There can be as many as 500 000 on a single head. Teeth are made by a professional dental specialist. The face is made up with oil paints. Every tiny detail, such as shadows around the eyes, marks, beauty spots, scars, are painstakingly reproduced.

Costumes

Period costumes are manufactured in the Grévin’s own workshops, using historical documents. For contemporary celebrities, quite frequently their favourite dress designer makes the costume, or else they give the Grévin one of their own outfits.

Accessories

Accessories get all the attention they deserve. Some of them actually belonged to the character concerned. This is the case for the authentic hip-bath in which Marat was assassinated, or the harpsichord that Mozart is said to have used.