He had come to Mumbai at the invitation of the then Shiv Sena leader, Raj Thackeray, who wanted to raise funds through the concert for his “Shiv Udyog Sena” to provide jobs to 27 lakh Marathi youth. Raj, who now leads Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) after splitting from the Shiv Sena, recalled on Friday that Jackson readily agreed to come to Mumbai. “All that we had to do was to invite him and he immediately agree. There were no strings attached, no special demands. It was the only time he came to India,” he said.
Jackson arrived in Mumbai on October 30 and was greeted in traditional Indian style by actress Sonali Bendre who performed aarti and applied a tilak on his forehead, at Mumbai airport. The popstar, when driven in a 20-car motorcade from the airport, stopped his Toyota to meet the urchins lined up along the highway to catch a glimpse of him. During his stay in Mumbai, Jackson visited Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s residence. The Thackerays presented him with a silver tabla and tanpura.
At the Oberoi Hotel, where he was put up, Jackson surprised the entire staff by mingling freely with his fans, who thronged the hotel to catch a glimpse of the “King of Pop.”
“He greeted his fans with smiles and by blowing kisses and shook hands with as many of them as possible,” a hotel employee said recalling the event. During his stay in Mumbai, Jackson had relished several Indian cuisine, including South Indian and Mughlai. While the popstar had masala dosa and spicy alu paranthas with butter in breakfasts, his other meals mainly comprised butter naans, butter chicken, tandoori chicken and spicy vegetable curries, a staff member in the Oberoi Hotel said.
Children from orphanages were invited play with him at a high tea organised at the hotel pool side. He gave them gifts and chocolates that he had brought with him.
The consort
The over two-hour long performance on November 1 at the Andheri Sports Complex was a spectacular event, with fans lapping up every moment. For the show, Jackson flew in equipment in three Russian cargo planes. The Who’s who from Bollywood to Tamil film industry, like Prabhudeva, had specially come to Mumbai to witness Jackson’s show. The Jackson visit had triggered controversy, with critics questioning Sena’s notions of culture. They saw something alien in the values the singer represented and said: “Who is Michael Jackson and how on earth is he linked to Hindu culture?”
Bal Thackeray had responded the critics saying : “Jackson is a great artist, and we must accept him as an artist. His movements are terrific. Not many people can dance that way. You will end up breaking your bones.
“And, well what is culture? He represents certain values in America, which India should not have any qualms in accepting. We would like to accept that part of America that is represented by Jackson,” he had said. There were also allegations about the funds raised during the concert. Raj had then said he suffered loss rather than raking any money for his Shiv Udyog Sena, leaving most people and critics dumfounded.