On the occasion of painter MF Husain’s 106th birth anniversary, actor Amrita Rao reveals a gift she got from Husain, which is now her priced possession. Husain, who was impressed by Amrita’s role in Vivaah, invited her to Dubai and painted her portrait.
Amrita recalled her meeting with Husain and said, “I discovered that Hussain Sahab was very good at his "self-portraits" which is so rare. Before he started painting me, I told him I wish the theme of the painting to be ‘The Painter and his Muse’.”
“Sure enough, if you see the painting, there is a painting within the painting. Every girl dreams of being painted by a painter, I am so honored and blessed to be immortalized by none other than the legend M.F Hussain himself on his canvas,” she added.
She added that MF Husain told her mother that he was ‘hesistant’ to meet Amrita in person. Talking about Husain’s gift to her, she said that Husain had gifted her his imported paintbrush from Paris, which he used as his signature walking stick.
“On the last day of our visit, he confessed to my mom that he was initially hesitant to meet me in person, apprehensive, that if the ‘real’ Amrita was not true to her on screen persona in Vivah then he would be disillusioned after having met me. However, ‘You have surpassed my expectation’ he said."Amrita Rao, Actor
"He presented me with his signature brush! He said, ‘Remember only 3 people in the world own it,' and started to walk briskly ahead. We had to catch pace with him, nevertheless he was far ahead of our times,” Amrita Rao said. She added that the parting gift moved her to tears.
Amrita Rao told ETimes that she plans to make a MF Husain corner in her house where she plans to display the paintbrush, his paintings, and several letters that the duo exchanged.
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