There are three actors in the film industry who will say, "Chicken!"

Nor would you find them objecting to eat -- at last count -- at least seven different kinds of chicken-based dishes, ranging from Chicken Tikka, Chicken Kadai and Chicken Handi to Chicken Sandwiches.

But Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Fardeen Khan had to wait a while to say the bird word when they assembled at Mumbai's J W Marriott Hotel, though. In response to the recent bird flu scare, the National Egg Coordination Committee gathered the actors to urge consumers and poultry farmers across the nation to eat chicken.

Called to hold an egg each in their hands for a photoshoot, they found they were one egg short. Amazingly, the hotel had run out of eggs, and a staffer had to rush out to a nearby shop to buy it.

Before they tucked heartily into chunks of Chicken Tikka, Dutt vouched, "Chicken is one of my favourite dishes. It is high protein. There is no bird flu disease in India. No one has died eating chicken here, so why worry? We should be worried about the spread of AIDS here, not chicken flu. Please continue to eat chicken. There is nothing to worry."

Khan asserted, "I have not given up eating chicken. I eat it regularly, and nothing has happened to me."

The spectre of bird flu has now manifested into fear psychosis among people, said M B Desai, NECC chairman (Mumbai Zone), "People are afraid they will die if they eat chicken. This is a misconception."

He was referring to the fact that the prices of chicken have been falling ever since the bird flu deaths in Thailand, and news of the disease reported in Pakistan. A kilogram of chicken that once sold at Rs 50 in Mumbai now sells for Rs 25.

Incidentally, Indian chicken is a hot favourite outside the country. NECC claims chicken exports have increased by Rs 1 billion in one month. Countries like Japan and Middle East now prefer Indian chicken over other varieties.

Shetty said, "People in the business are suffering. A chicken farmer committed suicide yesterday because he could not bear the losses. He could not sell his chicken. So please prevent more suicides and eat chicken without fear."