Monday, January 23, 2012

My last visit to India: Oprah Winfrey


Monday, January 23, 2012
Robin Bansal, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 22, 2012


“It’s a centurial visit. India is so diverse. It’s gorgeous. It’s like paradise. It has been an overwhelming experience to come here,” the 57-year-old told us while taking a guided tour of the Taj Mahal in Agra on Thursday.   

“I want to thank (India) for my first visit here and  my last visit too,” she said. Asked why she doesn’t plan to come back ever again unlike her Hollywood friends, Winfrey said with a visibly confused and disappointed look on her face, “I don’t know.”

The talk show goddess seems quite upset with the chaos in Vrindavan which ensued when three of her bodyguards were arrested for roughing up scribes and damaging their equipment. The incident occured when the journalists were chasing Oprah while she was shooting her new show, Oprah’s Next Chapter, there.



Oprah

However, the actor-philanthropist remained tight-lipped about what really happened there, and her management too did not comment. They did confide in us though, that “it was unfortunate”. 

Meanwhile, her visit to the Taj left some desis oblivious. Some even thought that one ‘opera singer’ was there. 

She might not be visiting again but she has had a mouthful of “spicy” delicacies that she’ll always remember. “I tried a lot of it with  champagne. It was delicious,” she told us. Oprah stayed at The Oberoi Amarvilas and shot at Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri before leaving for the Jaipur Literature Fest.

Beti B is ‘gorgeous’Oprah can’t get over AbhiAsh’s Beti B, whom she met on Monday. “She is gorgeous, even with her eyes closed,” said Oprah, who reportedly called her ‘Princess’. When told that she turned Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest star in the country, a chauffeur, she said, “I don’t know about that but it was great to see the way he was holding the baby in his arms.”