Amitabh Bachchan to miss date with IFFM

Melbourne: Amitabh Bachchan has cancelled his Melbourne visit reportedly due to the illness of a close relative. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne issued a statement, saying, "IFFM regrets to announce that Amitabh Bachchan`s appearance at the festival`s closing night has been cancelled. Amitabh Bachchan is unable to travel due to the illness of a close relative. "We are all obviously very disappointed as the festival has been soaring with all the various events, screenings and 100 years celebrations, and having him close it would have been the perfect finish." Bachchan was to receive first of its kind `global citizenship award` and launch a scholarship under his name incepted by the La Trobe University. The university said they have postponed the ceremony for the time being. The three-week long festival will end with the screening of `Bombay Talkies` on May 22. The film is a collection of four stories by directors Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar. PTI