''Thackeray'' is a 2019 Indian

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

written and directed by Abhijit Panse and made simultaneously in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. The film follows the life of

Balasaheb Thackeray Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian cartoonist and politician who founded the original Shiv Sena, a far-right, a pro-Marathi and a Hindu nationalist party active mainly in th ...

, the founder of the Indian political party

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...

. The film stars

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui (; born 19 May 1974) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, an IIFA Award, and two Filmfare Awards, as well as a nomination for an ...

as Thackeray and

Amrita Rao Amrita Rao (born 7 June 1981) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. Known for her quintessential girl-next-door portrayals, Rao is the recipient of several accolades including an IIFA Awards, IIFA Award and two ...

as his wife. The film released on 25 January 2019, right after the 93rd birthday of

Bal Thackeray Bal Thackeray (; 23 January 1926 – 17 November 2012), also known as Balasaheb Thackeray, was an Indian cartoonist and politician who founded the original Shiv Sena, a far-right, a pro- Marathi and a Hindu nationalist party active mainly in ...

Plot

The film is a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

based on Marathi politician

Cast

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by

Rohan-Rohan Rohan Rohan is an Indian music director duo of Hindi and Marathi films, various television series, ad films and web series. The duo consists of Rohan Pradhan and Rohan Gokhale and is known for their work in Marathi and Hindi films including '' ...

and

Sandeep Shirodkar Sandeep Shirodkar is an Indian film score composer, music director and record producer. He has also worked as an arranger of songs for other composers. He has composed background scores for notable films like '' Dabangg'', ''Bodyguard'', '' Onc ...

with lyrics by Dr Sunil Jogi, Manoj Yadav and Manndar Cholkar. The film's score was composed by Amar Mohile.

Reception

Critical response

Thackeray received mixed reviews from critics. Times of India gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and states: "While the honesty is commendable, it comes across that the lead character's political motivations lack clarity. Perhaps a more seasoned writer, could have fleshed out Thackeray's characters and eccentricities a lot better. But, its Nawaz's nonchalant performance that overshadows the flaws and leaves a lasting impact."

Times Now Times Now is an English-language news channel in India owned and operated by The Times Group. The channel launched on 23 January 2006 in partnership with Reuters. It is a pay television throughout India. Until 2016, it was India's most popula ...

went with 2.5 stars out of 5 and has to say: "A lot of focus is put on making the film a tearjerker by emphasizing the aftermath of the riots, violence and fights that pretty much summed up Shiv Sena's history under the guidance of founder, Bal Thackeray. The film is good because of Nawazuddin's performance but it cannot be considered as one of the best biopics ever created." The life time domestic Box office collection is as per

Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media, as well as his reviews for Bollywood Hungama. Career Taran Adarsh started his journ ...

. Raut also plans to continue the film with a sequel.

Controversy

Popular

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

actor Siddharth has slammed

for abusing South Indians.

“Nawazuddin has repeated 'Uthao lungi bajao pungi' (lift the lungi and *'#$ him) in the film #Thackeray. Clearly hate speech against South Indians... In a film glorifying the person who said it! Are you planning to make money out of this propaganda? Stop selling hate! Scary stuff!"

References

External links

* * * {{Portal bar, India, Film, Bollywood 2019 films Films scored by Rohan-Rohan Films scored by Sandeep Shirodkar 2010s Hindi-language films Indian biographical films Indian films based on actual events Indian political films Indian multilingual films Viacom18 Studios films Biographical films about politicians Cultural depictions of Indira Gandhi Cultural depictions of prime ministers of India 2019 multilingual films 2010s Marathi-language films Bal Thackeray Morarji Desai Thackeray family Cultural depictions of cricketers Cultural depictions of actors Cultural depictions of Indian people Marathi-language political drama films Marathi-language biographical films Films based on Marathi people