Owais Husain, son of the world-famous painter MF Husain, has hired the services of Bollywood’s most high-profile PR firm Dale Bhagwagar Media Group, to help his forthcoming feature film ride the storm kicked up by the latest controversy about his father forgoing Indian citizenship and shifting base to Qatar.
Owais who helped his legendary father in directing feature films like Gaja Gamini and Meenaxi – A Tale of 3 Cities while he was in India, has now turned an independent filmmaker. His untitled debut film starring Anurag Sinha (the actor who won critical acclaim for his debut performance in Subhash Ghai’s Black & White) and Sonal Chauhan (of Jannat fame), is nearing completion. Having a love story, set in the backdrop of Punjab, the film is also expected to do the rounds of international film festivals, before Husain Jr releases it in India and abroad by the end of this year.
While we can’t help but mark the timing of Husain hiring the leading film publicity agency in India, its founder Dale Bhagwagar insists it hasn’t got much to do with the raging controversy. The publicist informs, “Just like his prolific father, Owais is a talented and multi-faceted personality. He is a poet, writer, painter, installation artist, digital-art video designer and even composes music. We are proud to join forces with him, as he turns filmmaker.”
When we ask Bhagwagar on the intense debate about MF Husain leaving his motherland India, and accepting citizenship of Qatar, he evades the question like a typical PR, saying, “Just like Owais will have to face comparisons with his father in creative fields, this too would be an unavoidable question for him. We assure you, he will have justifications. In fact, while handling the media for his film, we hope to help Owais emerge a stronger person from this storm.”
