Tom Cruise arrived in India on Saturday to promote the fourth instalment of his blockbuster Mission: Impossible series, days ahead of its world premiere in Dubai on Wednesday.
Sporting a big grin and sunglasses, the actor, who is on a worldwide promotional tour for the movie, told reporters in the Indian capital New Delhi he was "very excited to be here" for a fan screening of his latest action-thriller.
The Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, Cruise's co-star in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, later accompanied him to the northern city of Agra where the pair visited the Taj Mahal, India's most famous monument.
"I have wanted to come here all my life," Cruise said. The 49-year-old actor then headed to the Bollywood capital Mumbai, where he was the guest of honour at a party hosted by Kapoor last night, according to the Press Trust of India. He mingled with the who's who of the city's film and financial communities at the glitzy bash. The guestlist included India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, as well as Bollywood's leading stars such as Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, according to the Times of India.
The US actor was staying in Mumbai at the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the sites attacked three years ago by Islamic militants who killed 166 people, the Indian national news agency said. Cruise, who plays intelligence agent Ethan Hunt in the stunt-packed movie in which he seeks to avert a nuclear war, hosted a red-carpet fan screening in Mumbai yesterday, before the film is officially released in India later in December.
The media tour to promote the thrill-laden film has already seen Cruise in Japan.
* AFP
