'Thackeray' Movie Review: Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Thackeray is a near-perfect rendition of a feared icon
What is the job of a biopic? To write history.
What is the job of a biopic in India? To right history.
What is the job of a political biopic in India? To re-write history.
The Thackeray biopic begins with Bal Thackeray in the witness box, testifying before the honourable court and a CBI-appointed lawyer about his involvement in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the subsequent Mumbai riots. "Wahan Masjid kahan tha? Wahan toh Ram Mandir tha," Thackeray throws the left end of his shawl over his right shoulder and takes a pause. The courtroom on screen — and the theatre off it — breaks into applause.
The film starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the titular role is sleek, crisp and edgy.
Screenplay-wise, it is smart and immediately piques your interest, simply by making use of cartoons — like the sketches Bal Thackeray was known for — to sometimes further the narrative. A major part of the film is shot in black and white — given that we're presented with a flashback view of Thackeray's life, from the time he quit his cartoonist's job with Free Press Journal and led the Shiv Sena to power in Maharashtra.
The ones in colour are shot, strategically, in sepia tones. Old Bombay — first-generation BEST buses, the Air India building, Flora Fountain, the once-upon-a-time scarcely populated Juhu Beach — adds just the right amount of nostalgia. "Bombay nahin, Mumbai," Thackeray reminds you from the witness box. Of course, but what's in a name, right?
The film keeps jumping from the courtroom — which is shown as 'today' in the scope of the film, yet we know that it must have been sometime back in the early 2000s — back into Thackeray's past. The frequent jump may seem a bit hard to follow, but it remains a small glitch in the otherwise clean screenplay.
Nawazuddin is flawless.
He brings out Thackeray's clout, charisma and dismissive style of talking beautifully — in that, it is safe to say, his was the perfect casting.
Amrita Rao as Meena Tai Thackeray was good in the little role that she was given. While Nawaz had all the screen time to prove his prowess, Amrita's could be told in a 3-minute scene where she rushes into the kitchen, scuffles to open a letter from Thackeray, now in jail, and starts to read, as her expressions go from excitement, to sorrow, to frustration, to love, to pride.
Of the two films at your perusal as you step up to the ticketing counter this weekend, Thackeray is the better film (read our review of Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi), judging purely on the actual craft of filmmaking.
The political and factual coherence or incoherence is the subject of another story.
And for that alone, we give Thackeray 3.5/5.