Matisse painting. My farewell gift to ‘Shah sir’ – that’s what everyone on the sets called him, though I never thought how I wanted to address him. On the way to the screening I had a framed painting in my hands (of.) fan) but the most important part was still there, the message. Which I had to write on the back of the frame. Who had to do justice to all that I intended to tell him all these years from childhood, all that mattered to me. Reminds me of an imaginary conversation I had with him. So here I was, at the YRF Atrium after the screening, to dance with him and twenty others. Chhaiya Chhaiya, and looking at this moment with disbelief and wonder. I was finally done, satisfied. I had the sustenance of my meeting with Shahrukh. From loving him, working with him, interacting with him, accidentally scratching his chest, traveling with him, seeing everything he believed in and stood for. My heart was filled but now it was pounding with anxiety as I had to write the message on the back of that painting before gifting it to her. And…
.