Bal Keshav Thackeray was an Indian politician, founder of Shiv Sena political party, cartoonist, and journalist. He is also fondly referred to as ‘Hindu Hruday Samrat’ or Balasaheb Thackeray. He was known for his great skills as an orator, his fiery speeches, his pro-Marathi manoos stance, and his anti-migrant and anti-muslim rallies.
‘Thackeray’ is an upcoming Bollywood film that is based on the life of Balasaheb. It has been simultaneously shot in both Hindi and Marathi. The movie features Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Thackeray and Amrita Rao as his wife. The film has been written by Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Raut and produced by his film production company Raut’ers Entertainment in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.
The trailer of ‘Thackeray’ was launched on December 26, 2018. It vowed both the audience and critics alike. The movie will hit the theaters on January 25, 2019. All other films that were slated to release on 25-26 Jan 2019, have either pre-poned or postponed their release date to avoid clashing with ‘Thackeray’.
Early Life
Bal Thackeray was born on Jan 23, 1926 in Pune. His mother’s name was Ramabai while his father’s name was Keshav Sitaram Thackeray. His father was a social activist and writer. He was also involved in the 1950s movement called the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement which advocated for the creation of a separate state on the basis of Marathi speaking populous. This political philosophy of his father had a great impact on Balasaheb.
Career
Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist for the Free Press Journal in Mumbai. In 1960, he left the paper and launched his own political weekly called Marmik along with his brother Srikant, the father of Raj Thackeray. He also founded another daily paper called ‘News Day’ along with other journalists who left the Free Press Journal; this included politician George Fernandes. News Day was however short-lived and shut down after a few months.
Thackeray used Marmik to campaign against the increasing influence of South Indians, Gujaratis, and other non-Marathi speaking people in the city of Mumbai. The success of the paper prompted Balasaheb to launch his own political party Shiv Sena in 1966. The party promoted the interest of Marathi speaking people or the sons of the soil in the professional and political landscape of the city. He subsequently formed short-term alliances with almost all of the political parties in the state.
By the 1980s, the party had spread out from its bastion in Mumbai and increased its influence into Konkan and other regions of Maharashtra. Thackeray founded the party newspaper Saamna in 1989. The workers of Shiv Sena often used violent means to quell its opponents, media, and detractors. The Srikrishna Commission Report had even indicted Manohar Joshi and Thackeray for inciting violence against Muslims during the 92 Mumbai riots. After the riots, the party and Thackeray resorted to a Hindutva position and aligned with the BJP. The Shiv Sena and BJP coalition subsequently won the assembly elections in Maharashtra in 1995 and formed the government. Manohar Joshi was appointed the Chief Minister, but Thackeray was the designated ‘remote control’ CM.
In 1999, Thackeray was barred from contesting or voting in elections, for a period of 6 years, by the Election Commission for using religion to seek votes from the public. He was also arrested several times and spent a short time in jail. However, he never faced any serious jail term or legal issues for any of his actions. In 2000 despite being arrested for it, Balasaheb was not indicted for his alleged role in the 92 riots as the statute of limitations had run out.
Thackeray appointed his son Uddhav Thackeray as the leader of Shiv Sena in 2006 and went into semi-retirement. He passed away on November 17, 2012 due to cardiac arrest. He had a state funeral and a 21 gun salute and his body was cremated at Shivaji Park by Uddhav.
Personal Life
- Thackeray married Meenatai on June 13, 1948. The couple was parents to three sons.
- Meenatai passed away in 1995. The eldest son Bindumadhav died in a road accident in 1996.
- Aditya Thackeray, the grandson of Balasaheb and the son of Uddhav, is the leader of the youth wing of Shiv Sena.
