‘Is that Amitabh Bachchan?’: Steve McCurry’s portrait of Afghan refugee goes viral

Renowned American photographer Steve McCurry’s recent post on World Refugee Day has caught everyone’s attention on social media. The reason- is his subject’s uncanny resemblance to Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan.

The photo shared by McCurry shows an old man wearing a white safa covering his head and one eye. The old man is in a rugged state, wearing spectacles that seem to be scratched, highlighting the subject’s vulnerability.

Have a look at McCurry’s post here:

The picture had earlier gone viral in 2018. Back then, the people had shared the image, saying that it was a shot of Big B from his film Thugs Of Hindostan, which featured Aamir Khan and Fatima Sana Shaikh, along with a special cameo by Katrina Kaif.
However, in reality the image is of an Afghan refugee named Shabuz, who lives in Pakistan. The resemblance between the man in the photo and the Bollywood superstar is so uncanny that it left users stunned once again. Shared on Tuesday, 21 June, the picture has received more than 78,000 likes so far.

Reacting to the post a user wrote, “Amazing portrait!?” while the second questioned, “Why does he look like Amitabh Bachchan with makeup on?”. Another thought that this was the actor’s look for one of his upcoming films.

To give context to the photo, McCurry wrote that the visual was a reminder of the millions of displaced persons around the world. The unprecedented humanitarian crises across the globe have resulted in the largest number of refugees in history. According to the photographer, a hundred million people have been displaced from their homes. “We must all redouble our efforts to support these people, who through no fault of their own, find themselves in vulnerable and precarious situations,” the post said.

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