There were reasons
why Bollywood ce
lebrities queued up to call on Bal Thackeray when the Shiv Sena supremo lay in a critical condition before he breathed his last Saturday. He was always with them, for them in their times of need.
With some, he shared an endearing relationship, and with some, one of love-and-hate.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who visited Thackeray Wednesday, recently recalled how inspiring and motivational Thackeray was for him when the actor was recovering in hospital after his near fatal accident on the sets of 1983 film “Coolie”.
“When I was flown in to Mumbai from Bangalore in semi-conscious state after ‘Coolie’ accident, it was his ambulance that took me to Breach Candy Hospital,” Amitabh recently shared on Twitter.
“When I fought for my life after ‘Coolie’ accident, he came to visit me in hospital, with a cartoon he had drawn – Yamraj defeated! Yamraj – God of Death, defeated by me… wish I was as proficient a cartoonist as he, I would wish to draw that for him,” posted Big B, adding how Thackeray considered Jaya Bachchan as his ‘bahu’.
Amitabh recalled when his name was drawn into the Bofors scandal, Thackeray again came to his aid. “Tell me the truth, are you involved? The don’t worry, I am with you,” Thackeray then told Big B.
For many, including Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan and even Reena Roy, Thackeray, a cartoonist-turned-politician, is said to have gone out of his way to lend a helping hand. And for legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, Thackeray was a “father figure”.
Her family knew him for the past four decades. In wake of his ill health over the past few days, Mangeshkar had even postponed a recent function of her music company.
Such was his charisma, grit and dedication that Mangeshkar says, “Maharashtra is orphaned today”.
The news of Thackeray’s death is yet to be broken to veteran actor Dilip Kumar, once his close friend.
“Balasaheb was close to Dilip saheb, but unfortunately Dilip saheb is not well since past two days. He had high fever, so I have not informed him (about Thackeray’s death) yet. It will be a big shock for him,” Dilip’s wife Saira Banu told.
In 1998, Dilip Kumar is said to have had a fallout with Thackeray when the latter demanded the actor to return the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian award.
Thackeray was involved in many such instances – in two with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
In 2010, his Shiv Sena threatened to stop the release of Shah Rukh-starrer My Name is Khan over the actor’s remarks favouring inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League. Also, in an incident earlier this year, Thackeray had criticised King Khan for his ‘misdemeanour’ with security officials at Wankhede Stadium.
But they never harboured any ill will. Shah Rukh even visited him recently and admitted that he shared a “personal relationship” with the Thackeray family. (IANS)