Hollywood celebs who visited India in 2013

Not very long ago India used to be that exotic place everybody in Hollywood spoke about but somehow preferred to stay away Over the years there has been a paradigm shift in its attitude towards the country Much of the change can be attributed to the obvious commercial interest Nonetheless not all the Western stars visit India for the promotion of their filmsu00a0 Leonardo DiCaprio who is expected to be here early January to promote Martin Scorsesersquos next may beg to differ though For what this healthy trend is worth of HitList compiles a list of some of the prominent Hollywood personalities who landed in India during 2013 Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg flocked by the whorsquos who of Hindi cinema Purpose of visit Quite evidently a highprofile visit from the world of cinema Spielberg came saw and mesmerised almost everyone in the audience Seeking collaborations in the future with his production house he was greeted by whorsquos who of not only Bollywood but also other film industries from across the country The celebrated filmmaker last visited India in 1983 for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which starred Amrish Puri in a negative role Sharon Stone Sharon Stone with Abhishek Bachchan Nita Ambani and Aishwarya Rai Purpose of visit Since her conversion to Tibetan Buddhism Sharon Stone has been making regular visits to India especially Dharamshala The actress was in India last month on a short trip Visiting four cities during her fiveday stay she hosted the inaugural gala of a global fundraiser for AIDS awareness Sharon later visited Rajasthan and Varanasi before leaving for Delhi to catch an early morning flight back home to the US Richard Gere Richard Gere in Sikkim u00a0 Purpose of visit Active practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa School Richard Gere can be called a regular tourist This time around he visited many monasteries on a fiveday tour in Sikkim in April He later admitted that such visits help him a lot in keeping himself calm He also delivered a speech on Buddhism during an event in the northeastern state Before leaving the country he also participated in a close friend39s wedding in Gangtok Hilary Swank Hilary Swank at the Mumbai gala Purpose of visit The twiceOscar winner landed in the country for the first time in November It was a relatively short visit to Mumbai for philanthropy The USbased actress who is known for shying away from media as much as possible maintained a low profile throughout Along with Abhishek and Aishwarya RaiBachchan Hilary raised admirable funds for an event Soon after she left for New York Demi Moore Demi Moore feeding a street dog at McLeodganj Purpose of visit The latest name from Hollywood to join the growing list of those lsquoseeking spiritualityrsquo is Demi Moore Postbreakup with Ashton Kutcher the Hollywood star was spotted Mcleodganj in Himachal Pradesh on October 28 along with her spiritual guru Hargopal Kaur Khalsa Demi attended a mind and life conference called Craving Desire and Addiction where Dalai Lama was the speaker Matt Damon Matt Damon in Tamil Nadu Purpose of visit Nearly a decade ago Matt Damon had visited Goa for the shooting of a pivotal scene in Bourne Supremacy This year he wasnrsquot here for a shoot It was more of a humanitarian cause he must have read somewhere that India has more cellphones than toilets The Hollywood hottie visited Tamil Nadu on a mission to help more than a million people have access to safe water and sanitation in the next threeandhalf years Thatrsquos something Susan Sarandon Susan Sarandon on the opening day of IFFI Purpose of visit In 2000 this Oscar winner confessed that her visit to India as a UNICEF ambassador broke so many longheld myths about the country 13 years later she was in Goa for International Film Festival of India IFFI Along with the annual film festival she enjoyed the work of Indiarsquos leading artists and photographers at a show During her interaction with the media the outspoken actress went down heavily on Americarsquos foreign policies in Iraq and Afghanistan Michelle Yeoh Michelle Yeoh on the closing day of IFFI Purpose of visit The former Bond girl and Malaysiarsquos greatest import to Hollywood was on her second visit to the country She was the chief guest of the closing ceremony for the 44th edition of IFFI where her film Pad Yatra A Green Odyssey was also screened Much to the local mediarsquos amusement she stated that she not only loves Bollywod but also wishes to be a part of an Indian movie soon Jon Hamm Jon Hamm outside a Mumbai club Purpose of visit The actor who plays the protagonist in the hugely popular TV series Mad Men was in the city during summer He was here on business movie business to be precise Shooting for Million Dollar Arm by director Craig Gillespie this was his first visit to the country The upcoming film happens to also feature Suraj Sharma of the Life of Pi fame Oh yes Jon reportedly dined with Priyanka Chopra Robert De Niro Robert De Niro in New Delhi Purpose of visit Visiting India after a long gap of 35 years the legendary actor was in the country to speak at an annual conclave in New Delhi During his visit to the capital he rubbed shoulders with popular Indian names including Amitabh Bachchan De Niro later met Ranbir Kapoor and before flying back to the US he made it a point to personally meet Anupam Kher at his acting school in Mumbaiu00a0