Prominent Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan will release his own non-fungible token collection later this year.
Fast facts
- The NFTs will be rolled out on BeyondLife.club, a joint venture between Indian film production company Rhiti Entertainment and Guardian Link, a decentralized legitimacy protocol for NFT exchanges. BeyondLife.club allows users to buy NFTs with credit cards or through digital payment methods, making NFTs more accessible to non-crypto users in India. Like OpenSea, the platform can be used to upload, mint, publish, price protect, and trade or auction NFTs. Arun Pandey, managing director and chairman of Rhiti Group, said: “Our biggest motivation behind this venture is to empower artists, celebs & athletes globally and at the same time help the die-hard fans to get their hands over the purest form of the content.”
- The NFTs will include original movie posters signed by the 78-year-old Bachchan, CryptoPunk-style pixelated digital artworks featuring him, and his narration of the 135 verses from the book “Madhushala,” written by his father, Hindi poet and author Harivansh Rai Bachchan. BeyondLife.club is also soliciting suggestions from fans about the type of Bachchan NFTs they would like to collect. The bidding on the NFTs will begin in October 2021.
- Bachchan, frequently referred to as Big B by his fans, has a net worth of over US$400 million, higher than Brad Pitt’s net worth of around US$300 million, and has acted in over 175 films in his career — Clint Eastwood, by comparison, one of the oldest Hollywood actors, has starred in less than 100 movies. From five-year-olds to 60-year-olds, almost every Indian knows Bachchan and his movies. Over the years, Bachchan has also become a successful movie producer, TV host, playback singer and even did a short stint in politics. Bachchan will be the first celebrity to roll out his NFTs on BeyondLife.club.
- NFTs are gaining traction across the world, with sales volume reaching US$2.5 billion in the first half of 2021. Celebrities from sports and entertainment are using NFTs to increase fan engagement and monetize their personal brand. Some international celebrities who have joined the NFT bandwagon include Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Ellen DeGeneres, Tony Hawk and Lindsay Lohan.