The duo leave behind their 2008 verbal tiff.
By Prabhav Hiremath
MUMBAI: When Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray targeted North Indians in Mumbai in 2008, the founding year of the party, his verbal attack didn’t even spare Amitabh Bachchan and had hit Bollywood’s megastar deeply.
Five years later, the two names come together for the political party’s seventh anniversary celebration, in Matunga, here, today.
The first move was initiated by Bachchan to mark the end of the acrimony between them over the controversial statement made by Thackeray. The celebration also is an occasion to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema.
Shalini Thackeray, MNS vice-president and head of Chitrapat Karamchari Sangh – party’s film wing, confirmed the news of Bachchan accepting the invitation and attending the function as a chief guest.
According to her, there was no dispute between them over the years and they have been conversing on the phone throughout. But, it’s for the first time that both of them will be sharing a stage along with Marathi actor Sachin Pilgaonkar. Shalini added that Thackeray had always been a fan of Bachchan and the media was responsible for bringing the two names in bad light.
Thackeray was of the opinion that the superstar always supported Uttar Pradesh, which is his birthplace, during elections. That Bachchan was being an ambassador of UP and not Maharashtra, although the latter has made him big because of Bollywood.
The star did not respond to this verbal fire and chose to remain silent, but the reply came from his wife, Jaya Bachchan, a Bollywood actress and a Samajwadi Party MP. She answered that being from UP, Maharashtra citizens should excuse her from speaking Hindi. She also ignored the threat of Bachchans’ films getting boycotted that came from MNS, which demanded an apology from the star.
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