Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Thackeray, a biopic on late Shiv Sena leader Bala Saheb Thackeray released along with Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika. Thackeray, which has been written and produced by Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Raut has earned Rs 6 crore on its opening day. The movie which also features Amrita Rao and Sudhir Mishra in important roles has done well in Maharashtra. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the first day figures of the movie.
''#Thackeray has scored in #Maharashtra specifically… #Marath i version has collected very well… #RepublicDay holiday [today] should help escalate its biz… Fri ₹ 6 cr. India biz. #Hindi #Marathi,'' he tweeted.
The movie started making waves since its announcement and after Nawaz came onboard for the titular role, it created much hype. From the actor's striking resemblance to the iconic political figure of Maharashtra to his fluent Marathi accent, Nawaz excelled in every department. However, he was not the first choice for Abhijit Panse's directorial. The makers first thought of casting Irfan Khan in the lead role.
In an interview with Mid-Day, casting director Rohan Mapuskar said, ''Director Abhijit Panse, Sanjay Raut and I were brainstorming on who we'd like to cast and were contemplating (roping in) Irrfan. We had his image to see if it matched that of Mr. Thackeray, and were convinced''. Reportedly, Amrita Rao, who played the role of Meena Tai, was also not the first choice of makers. They were contemplating roping in Rasika Dugal.
While the movie has already got the tag of being a 'propaganda film', Nawaz is getting rave review for his stupendous performance.
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