Hollywood celebs have come up and launched their public statues quite often, whereas in India we still see celebs going gaga over wax statues. While among Indian celebrities we find that the wax statues are a matter of great pride, in Hollywood public statues are an even more popular thing. However, in India, only a handful of celebs like actor Rajesh Khanna and filmmaker Yash Chopra have had public statues. But it seems the fad of public statues is slowly catching up among B-Town celebs, which is already a huge thing in the celebs in the west.
Here are a few H-Town celebs who’ve had amazing public statues:
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Austria
In 2011, a ripped memorial statue to Austria's most famous living son was placed outside the house where actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in. To commemorate the opening of a museum dedicated to all things of Schwarzenegger, the former California governor commissioned a bronze representation of his younger, bodybuilder self.
Bob Marley in Serbia
Less than a decade after the region's horrific civil war, musicians from former Yugoslavia raised this statue of late Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley as a symbol of peace. At the Rock Village music event in the Serbian hamlet of Banatski Sokolac, prominent Serbian and Croatian artistes unveiled the statue with the inscription (in Serbo-Croat): "Bob Marley — fighter for freedom armed with a guitar."
Bruce Lee in Bosnia
The Balkans have a fetish with famous statues that look out of place. Why else would the first public memorial to Bruce Lee be unveiled in Bosnia on November 26, 2005? To be fair, Hong Kong followed suit a day later with its own Lee homage. But it took a long time for Los Angeles to honour the Kung Fu icon with a 7-foot statue in Central Plaza in Chinatown.
Elvis Prestley in Nashville
The king of rock is most likely the most popular singer in the world to have so many statues. Elvis Prestley statues entice admirers and people from Memphis to Japan, Israel to Shreveport, Louisiana. This homage to Elvis Presley, depicting him in all his hip-swinging splendour, sits in Nashville, the country music capital, and draws people from all over the world as a popular tourist spot in the city.
Jean-Claude Van Damme in Brussels
A few years back, a permanent homage to the 80s action superstar – and 'Expendables 2' co-star – Mussels from Brussels was unveiled in actor Jean Claude Van Damme's homeland. It seems fitting that the unveiling occurred on the 40th anniversary of the Brussels Westland Shopping Mall.
John Lennon in Cuba
In Havana, Cuba, there is an entire park devoted to John Lennon. On December 8, 2000, the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death, leader Fidel Castro personally inaugurated this memorial to the former Beatles star. The inscription is a Spanish translation of a line from the song 'Imagine: You may call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.' If visitors ask, a nearby security officer will apparently place a pair of Lennon's iconic round-lens spectacles on the monument for a photograph.
Johnny Depp in Serbia
This sculpture in a Serbian mountain community is one of the strangest efforts at VIP statuary. Emir Kusturica, who directed actor Johnny Depp in 'Arizona Dream' (1992), unveiled the statue honouring the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' actor a few years ago to start off Kusturica's annual Kustendorf film festival.
Michael Jackson in West London
The award for the most unusual celebrity monument placement has to go to the homage to pop star Michael Jackson, which sits outside the Fulham soccer stadium in West London. Egyptian business billionaire Mohammed Al-Fayed, owner of Fulham and a friend of Jackson, said soccer supporters should 'go to hell' if they didn't appreciate the King of Pop being immortalised outside their home club.
Sylvester Stallone in Belgrade
The statue is called the Balkan Balboa. This is a 10-foot-tall tribute to actor Sylvester Stallone's battling spirit and is proudly displayed in Zitiste, a hamlet just north of Belgrade. Unlike other celebrity statues in the region, Rocky was erected in the hopes that the Serbian town, which had been devastated by years of floods and landslides, would absorb some of the fighter's never-say-die attitude.
Colin Firth in London
To commemorate the debut of UKTV's new channel, Drama, a 12-foot fibreglass monument of actor Colin Firth was constructed in the Serpentine, a lake in Hyde Park, London, in July 2013. The sculpture was created to pay homage to the BBC's renowned 'Pride And Prejudice' adaption from 1995. Firth (as Mr Darcy) appears dripping wet in a shirt after an impromptu swim at his mansion in the miniseries. The scene was picked after a study of UK television viewers revealed that it was the most memorable moment in a British TV drama.
