Who’s making the biopic on Balasaheb Thackeray? Find out tomorrow!

By Nishant. A. Bhuse

on December 19, 2017

Five years after he passed away, there’s a silent battle developing between two interested parties over who will make the first Bollywood biopic on the late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. In the fray are Smita Thackeray and her son Rahul, Balasaheb’s estranged daughter-in-law and grandson respectively; against them is the Shiv Sena strongman and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut. Both have announced plans to come out with their biopics on Balasaheb leaving the rank and file of the political party confused.

Smita was the first to pitch her hat in the ring. The Thackeray bahu, one time a force to reckon with when she assisted Balasaheb in running the Shiv Sena from Matoshree, is a Bollywood and TV film producer herself. She’s made films like Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999), Hum Jo Keh Na Paaye (2005, for TV), Sandwich (2006), Kaisay Kahein (2007) and Society Kaam Se Gayi (2011). Her son Rahul, who studied filmmaking in Canada, is a director and distributor in his own rights and made the film Raada Rox in 2011 on five college friends and their love for music with Juhi Chawla in the lead.

When Smita announced in August 2015 that she was making the Balasaheb biopic tentatively titled Saheb it caused a ripple in Bollywood and Matoshree. She had by then moved out of the Thackeray residence due to differences with Balasaheb’s successor and party chief Uddhav Thackeray. But Smita said in interviews that it was always Balasaheb’s wish that she make a film on him and that Rahul direct it. Saheb was in the final stages of scripting, she added, and she intended to start shooting by the end of 2015 and release the film on Balasaheb’s birth anniversary on January 23, 2017.

The next that was heard on Saheb was that co-producers Sandeep Singh and Umang Kumar had backed out because of unknown reasons. By then the biopic, being made under the banner Rahul Productions, had locked its script. According to sources, Rahul had completed the division of scenes and was sitting on the script with the director of photography. Rumours were that Smita had pitched the film to Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar hoping to get either of the superstars to play Balasaheb’s role, but this didn’t work out.

In the meanwhile, Sanjay Raut has invited the media for the teaser launch and announcement of his “most ambitious endeavor” – the film on the life and times of Balasaheb Thackeray. It is being held at the Grand Hyatttomorrow. Doing the honours will be Amitabh Bachchan, a close friend of the late Shiv Sena supremo, and gracing the event will be Uddhav Thackeray. With this, Bollywood is now convinced that Raut’s film made under his banner Rauters’ Entertainment will be the official biopic on Balasaheb and it has the backing of the family and party.

According to sources, Raut’s biopic is likely to be called Thackeray, and the actor who has been singled out to play the Shiv Sena chief is Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Said a source, “Nawazuddin is the only actor who would be able to convincingly pull off Balasaheb’s look, mannerisms and style.” Raut, who is also the scriptwriter of the film, refused to confirm this rumour. “Come to the first-look launch and find out,” he responded. The Shiv Sena MP, who was close to Balasaheb, said he tried to be as true to the subject as was cinematically possible with the script. There was no interference from anyone, not even the Thackeray family, he added.

So where does this leave Saheb which was announced by Smita and Rahul Thackeray in 2015 and supposed to hit the screens in January 2017? Nobody knows! PeepingMoon.com attempted to reach them for comment, but both were unavailable. Neither were their personal and PR managers taking calls. Sanjay Raut, on the other hand, while refusing to be drawn into the controversy over who was making the official biopic on Balasaheb, said, “Uddhav Thackeray will get the film made by whoever he wants. Balasaheb Thackeray was an iconic figure and everyone would like to make a film on his virtues. But who is going to make it and who won’t be making it is not for me to comment.”

(Inputs by:Nishat Shamsi )