"... It's a very sad day for me today... His paintings not only came from his heart but also from the knowledge he had about various topics," she told a TV news channel.
Husain made his Bollywood directorial debut in 2000 with 'Gajagamini' starring Madhuri and Shah Rukh Khan.
Asked whether Indian artists should have rallied around him with more enthusiasm when he was targeted by right-wing groups, she said, "I think something should have been done in an organised way. Maybe something should have been done, something should have been said. But it didn't happen."
On his stay abroad, she said, "I am sure that he did miss coming back. He didn't say so openly to me but I knew from the way he used to talk, remember India, talk about the different celebrations... He used to talk about all these things.
"That's the sadness that I feel for him that he was born in India but couldn't breathe his last here."
Published 09 June 2011, 16:19 IST