Thackeray, based on the life of former Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray has hit the silver screens. The movie has high production value and is a must-watch for those who want to know more about Balasaheb Thackeray.
Thackeray Story
This biopic traces the rise of Bal Keshav Thackeray, one of the most influential political leaders in Maharashtra.
The film takes you through his early days as a cartoonist, and how he goes about establishing his political party the Shiv Sena, with the intention of fighting for the rights of Maharashtrians.
Actors: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao
Director: Abhijit Panse
Thackeray is written and produced by Sanjay Raut, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP representing the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray: Trivia and interesting bits
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has managed to bag another meaty role for himself after playing Manto. However, it seems when the movie was being conceived, Irrfan Khan”s name was also being strongly considered for the role of Thackerey.
Casting director Rohan Mapuskar revealed in an interview that the makers of the film (Director Abhijit Panse, Producer Sanjay Raut) were keen to cast Irrfan Khan for the lead role. However, Irrfan got busy for some time with his other projects, and for certain scenes the makers felt someone like Nawazuddin would be a better fit.
“He (Abhijit Panse) told us that during certain pandals, Mr Thackeray would be seated with the Karyakartas on the floor. Following subsequent discussion, we felt that Nawaz would be a better choice for the depiction of such scenes when compared to Irrfan. Zeroing in on him was a consensual decision,” says Rohan.
And it seems to be the right decision, going by what we all have seen in the trailer.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a penchant for surprising his audiences and he is determined to do it again with Thackeray which has released today.
Abhijit Panse directed Thackeray is a bilingual film (shot both in Hindi as well as Marathi) and it found itself in a controversy right from the beginning, considering that a Muslim was being considered to play the role of Balasaheb.
However the newspaper headlines hardly bothered Nawazuddin who was busy preparing for the challenges that the character of Balasaheb Thackeray threw at him during the shooting.
“Bahut se challenges the. Ek toh maine hamesha koshish ki ke caricature na lagey aur ek impression dena hota hai. Gesture, posture thode pakadne padte hain. Ek aur tha Marathi, kyunki main bilkul nahi jaanta tha. Maine ek tutor rakha, ek mahina practice ki. Bahut hectic hota shoot kyunki ek shot aap Marathi main kar rahe ho, wohi same shot phir Hindi main,” says Nawazuddin.
It took Nawaz an entire month to get into the character of Balasaheb. It used to take Nawazuddin 3 hours everyday for his look and makeup, before every shot. He used prosthetics only for the nose.
The makers are also planning a sequel to the biopic.
