Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 10 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has condoled the demise of legendary painter M.F. Husain by remembering him as an immortal personality. The actor regerts he coudn’t meet him for one last time and says he will always miss him.

“I have been very close to him, and I just can’t believe he is no more. I’m a big fan of his work. The walls in my house are full of his paintings. I was working very late and I got up late when I got know that Husain saab has passed away. I always believed he is an immortal personality,” Shah Rukh told NDTV.

“I really miss him. I had to go to London for holidays and they got delayed by five-six days. The first thing I used to do was to meet him. I really wish I had gone, I really wish I had met him one last time. I wish I had gone three days earlier so that I could have met him,” he added.

The 45-year-old said that when he was young, he used to follow Husain on the streets of New Delhi because of his amusing appearance.

“In a strange way, I have known Husain saab for years. When I was young and lived in Delhi, we used to follow him. He had this quirk of walking barefoot with a stick which used to amuse us as kids,” he said.

Shah Rukh says when he came to Mumbai, he had the honour of working with Husain for his 2001 film “Asoka”. “Very sweetly he made seven paintings for me. Then I met him quite a few times when he was making paintings of Madhuri Dixit. He had outstanding energy,” Shah Rukh added.

Husain, who rose from painting cinema hoardings to becoming one of the world’s most celebrated artists, died in a London hospital early Thursday at the age of 95.

Shah Rukh he had pleasure of painting with Husain, hailed as the Picasso of India.

“Recently I had been meeting him a lot, bumping into him in London. I had some great conversations with him. I also painted a painting with him… he took me and we made it together, though I was so scared that I would spoil it.

“The last time I met him, it was few months back. I didn’t ask him for a painting, I asked him for a paintbrush and few days back I was talking to my wife that I should get it signed by him,” he said.