Sanjay Raut said all political leaders of Maharashtra have love and respect for Balasaheb Thackeray
Producer and Shiv Sena lawmaker Sanjay Raut, who is excited about his next production venture "Thackeray," based on Balasaheb Thackeray's life, says that the late Shiv Sena chief's stature was always above politics.
Sanjay Raut was interacting with the media to promote "Thackeray" for a Marathi show in Mumbai on Monday.
Maharashtra's political figures like Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray with wife Rashmi Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray attended the event.
"Today, Sharad Pawarji, Uddhavji and Devendra Fadnavisji are attending the event. It is not a political platform. In Maharashtra, we have a tradition that we have always kept politics and social, cultural platforms away from each other," said Mr Raut.
Mr Raut said all political leaders of Maharashtra have love and respect for Balasaheb Thackeray.
"They are all political figures but they loved and respected Balasaheb Thackeray as a human being, whether it's Pawar saab, Fadnavis saab or Uddhavji. Balasaheb's stature was always above politics and in every political party, people used to love and support him."
The event was also attended by Sanjay Dutt, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Suresh Wadkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures COO Ajit Andhare.
The Shiv Sena and the BJP came together after the 2014 state assembly elections to rule Maharashtra but it has often been seen that they aren't on good terms with each other. Leaders of both the parties don't miss an opportunity to take pot shots at each other on various platforms.
Asked about how Uddhav Thackeray and Devendra Fadnavis came together for an event, Mr Raut said: "Why do you feel that Uddhavji and Fadnavisji shouldn't be together at one event? We always respected the post of a chief minister. He (Fadnavis) is not a chief minister of one political party. He is chief minister of entire Maharashtra."
Mr Raut has also written the script of "Thackeray", directed by Abhijit Panse.
It stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Amrita Rao in the lead roles. The film will be released in Hindi, Marathi and English languages. It is slated to release on January 23, Bal Thackeray's 93rd birth anniversary.