Balasaheb Thackeray dazzles in portrait made with 27,000 diamonds

Mumbai, July 26 (IANS) On the eve of his 64th birthday, Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday got a ‘gift of a lifetime’ — a unique portrait of his father, the late Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray — made with 27,000 big and small diamonds.

The portrait on a blackboard — conceived by Thackeray’s media advisor Harshal Pradhan — was executed by well-known artist-cum-filmmaker from Dadar, Shailesh Acharekar.

The first-of-its-kind portrait was presented to Uddhav Thackeray at his home ‘Matoshri’ on Friday afternoon by Acharekar in the presence of other senior party leaders like Sanjay Raut, Vinayak Raut, Nitin Nandgaonkar and Harshal Pradhan.

As the dazzling portrait was unveiled, Uddhav Thackeray was momentarily speechless and his first reaction was: “Oh… Beautiful!”

“This portrayal of Balasaheb Thackeray in diamonds is truly charming and eye-catching… It will definitely be the prime attraction at the upcoming memorial,” said Uddhav Thackeray after taking a good look at the glittering creation.

“The portrait will be put on public display at the Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial. It has been rendered by Acharekar on behalf of all the loyal Shiv Sainiks and admirers of the Thackerays,” Pradhan said.

Later, Acharekar (46) said the portrait with locally sourced precious stones is the outcome of nearly six months of toil and sweat and he was delighted by the response it has got.

“I first studied the portraits of Balasaheb and then selected the right kinds of diamonds that would be suited for the image and its outcome as envisaged. I have put more than 35 per cent Swarovski diamonds and other good quality diamonds on a blackboard for the ultimate effect on the viewer,” Acharekar told IANS.

Working dedicatedly, Acharekar used small diamonds of 5 mm, 3 mm, and 2 mm that were placed upright, dipping them in a special quick-drying glue, then holding them up with a pincer, and sticking them at the desired spot in harmony with the other big and small stones around it.

“Since diamonds are normally colourless or whitish, they were integrated with the Swarovskis for the colourful effect as light falls on them from different sides, affording a magical multi-hued impact,” Acharekar explained.

When asked whether this was his first experiment, Acharekar said it was the second one after he made a similar portrait of the late J.R.D. Tata with 13,000 diamonds last year, which he soon plans to present to Ratan Tata.

On the costing aspects of the creation, all seemed to clam shut, merely saying that since “Balasaheb Thackeray himself was an invaluable gem, nothing can be more valuable than him”.

However, New York-based diamantaire Ketan R. Kakkad offered his expert insights on Acharekar’s creation.

“The artist is definitely a genius… In my five decades in the diamond industry, I have never seen anything like this done by anyone, anywhere in the world. He has done a truly amazing job of Balasaheb in diamonds,” Kakkad told IANS.

With considerable reluctance, he estimated that “it could have roughly cost between Rs 5-7 crore”, though an exact figure could be arrived at after a proper study of the artistic creation.

“Nevertheless, just as ‘diamonds are forever’, Balasaheb also lives forever in the hearts of all Indians, and his memories or the people’s love for him cannot be measured or valued,” Kakkad said.

A former advertising professional, Acharekar in 2005 strayed into painting and short filmmaking for which he has bagged over 160 awards from around the world.

Acharekar said wanted the portraits of both Tata and Thackeray to be ‘something not seen before’.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

–IANS

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