Movie Review: Thackeray

Producers- Sanjay Raut

Director- Abhijit Panse

Star Cast- Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao

Genre- Biopic

Rating- ***

Honest and Incisive

 Jyothi Venkatesh

The film, a biopic on the late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray directed ably by Abhijit Panse, is engaging in parts, chiefly because it’s powered by a carefully-calibrated performance from Nawazuddin Siddiqui who breathes life, and fire, into the character of the controversial Hindutva leader, so much so that the other actors in the film including that power house performer Amrita Rao pale into insignificance, whether they like it or not.

This biopic traces the rise of Bal Keshav Thackeray, as he goes from being a cartoonist, to establishing a new political party for Maharashtrians, the Shiv Sena. The film takes us through the journey of his political life and also gives us a glimpse of his personal story. All of this as Thackeray becomes the most influential political leader in Maharashtra.

Interestingly, the irony of watching Nawazuddin mouth Thackeray’s incendiary speeches against Muslims, and against outsiders taking away jobs from the Marathi manoos, will definitely not at all be lost. The actor had to drop out of a Ramleela performance in his village Budhana, in 2016, after a Shiv Sena district head complained against him after which Nawaz had reached out to, and earned the backing of Balasaheb Thackeray’s grandson Aditya Thackeray. As a film, the acting is decent, the lookalikes are mostly good (the man playing Thackeray’s father, Keshav, and Rajesh Khera playing the role of Morarji Desai are perfectly cast) and it looks crisp and well produced, with the majority of the film cleverly shot in black and white to depict another time.

Though Thackeray was bent upon at one time to oust Gujaratis, Parsis, South Indians, and job-seekers from other states, who had taken over jobs in Maharashtra, with the demeaning slogan — ‘hatao lungi, bajaao pungi’, this aspect of his has not at all been highlighted including his banning South Indian films way back in 1971.Powered by a stellar performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, this biopic rises above an inconsistent screenplay by Sanjay Raut, who has known the late leader quite closely as the Editor of his mouth piece Saamana, to present an intriguing political career. While it’s easy for a biopic to glorify its subject as is the prevalent vogue, in a welcome departure, Thackeray presents the bare truth of the protagonist’s career. It does take a few liberties, but for most part, the film portrays him as the belligerent and unapologetic leader that he was.

To sum up, Thackeray is incisive and honest, though it could have been a propaganda vehicle for the party Shiv Sena.

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