M.F. Husain, the grand old man of Indian art, who started his artistic journey by painting movie billboards, had more than a passing fascination for Bollywood and its beauties.
He was so charmed by the bubbly Madhuri Dixit in Hum Apke Hai Kaun that he watched the film 67 times and booked an entire theatre to see her comeback movie Aaja Nachle in 2007.
His love for Madhuri led him to reinvent his career as a filmmaker. Husain made his Bollywood debut as director with Gaja Gamini, starring Madhuri and Shah Rukh Khan in 2000.
The Padma Vibhushan immortalised her “quintessential beauty” in his paintings and no matter how many Bollywood divas impressed Husain, Madhuri indisputably remained the ‘Queen of his heart.'
Other Bollywood beauties also fascinated the artist, who, despite the critical and commercial failure of Gaja Gamini , ventured into filmmaking for the second time with Tabu as his muse in Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities .
