Bal Thackeray’s grandson to direct biopic about him

Smita Thackeray has produced a number of films in Bollywood. She is, of course, daughter-in-law of the late Bal Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena. News has is that Smita’s son, Rahul, is set to direct a biopic on the Indian politician, his grandfather.

Rahul recently assisted Rajkumar Hirani in ‘PK’ (2014) and the cast for the upcoming film will be decided soon. Talking to TOI, Smita said, ” This film is of course very big but it is also very close to our heart and I have been wanting to make it from the time Saheb was alive. He knew that it was my passion to make a film on him. He would say, ‘I will keep on talking and you collect the material in whichever way you want.’ So whenever we got a chance to sit with him and talk, we would do that. Saheb loved music and he was very creative.”

Talking about how his family addressed him, Smita added, “At home we called him Saheb. His sons called him Pilga (his pet name) and his grandchildren called him aaja (grandfather in Marathi). When he was in the house, he was a full family man. He was not strict with us.”

“At home we called him Saheb. His sons called him Pilga (his pet name) and his grandchildren called him aaja (grandfather in Marathi). When he was in the house, he was a full family man. He was not strict with us”, she commented.

The film will be called ‘Saheb’ and is expected to release on his birth anniversary, 23rd January 2017.