Manoj Kumar recalls his association with Balasaheb Thackeray

Yesterday (18 November 2012) Mumbai gave a tearful farewell to Shiv Sena Supremo, Balashaeb Thackeray among which were scores of Bollywood personalities prominent among them Amitabh Bachchan, Nana Patekar, Riteish Deshmukh and Mahesh Manjrekar. One of them was noted actor, filmmaker Manoj Kumar. Condoling Thackeray’s death, Kumar recalled some moments of togetherness with him. Both have been friends since 1967. "Our first meeting was at a felicitation function organised by the IMPPA in 1967 at the Taj Hotel,” informed Kumar. Talking about Thackeray’s skills as an artist, Kumar revealed that the R K Emblem was Balasaheb’s creation. Thackeray was the kind of person who would go out of his way to help a friend, whoever he might have been. Once, Thackeray came to Kumar's rescue when the latter was in trouble. "The society in which I live right now was transferred in my name by my father. But, at that time, they were not ready to transfer the property on my name. So troubled was I that after the society's AGM I called him up seeking help. Since it was too late, he could not do anything. However, next morning, a Shiv Sena jeep came to my doorstep and my work was done,'' revealed Kumar. Rebuffing talks that Thackeray was against Pakistani artistes, Kumar clarified, “It was not so. I can recall of an incidence when I had some Pakistani artistes in my film. It was around the time they came down to India that our relations with Pakistan were normal. Thackeray called them over and even felicitated them.''