Thackeray not a politically motivated film, say Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita Rao

Amid controversy surrounding the release date of Bal Thackeray's biopic, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Amrita Rao on Sunday clarified that their upcoming film 'Thackeray' has no political agenda.

In an exclusive interaction with ANI, Siddiqui, who will play the role of Bal Thackeray in the film and Amrita Rao, who will feature as his wife Mina Thackeray, refuted claims that the film has been made for political benefits ahead of upcoming elections.

Rao asserted that the only reason behind releasing the film in January was that 23rd January is Bal Thackeray's birth date. "From the very starting, we were told by the filmmakers that this film has to come out on his birthday because that would make his fans and followers very happy," she said.

Directed by Abhijeet Panse, 'Thackeray' follows Balasaheb's life and his transition from being a cartoonist to becoming one of the most respected and powerful politicians of India.

Speaking about the preparation that went into building his character of Bal Thackeray, Siddiqui asserted that while a lot of material for his research on Thackeray came from the videos on the internet, Sanjay Raut was an integral source of information as well.

"Thousands of videos of Bala Sahib are available on the internet. But apart from that, Sanjay Raut was a great source of information since he has spent a lot of time with Bala Sahib and knows many intricate details about his life."

Rao, on the other hand, said it was difficult for her to find a reference point to understand the character of "Mina Tai" since she was never a part of the limelight and never directly interacted with media.

"But I was lucky that I found an interview of Bala Shib's sister Sanjeevani Karandikar and in that interview Sanjivni briefly mentions Mina Tai. Apart from that, I used her photographs to understand her expressions and mannerisms. And that's how I developed that character," Rao explained.

'Thackeray' is slated to release on January 23, 2019, which is also the birth anniversary of the late Shiv Sena founder.