Madhav Agasti’s mobile rings as we step into his tailoring shop in Bandra. “Farooq Abdullah,” Agasti tells his son, Shantanu, before answering. The first time he had met Abdullah, then the chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, was in 1984. Agasti was at the Delhi airport, and so were Abdullah and Congress’s NKP Salve. Salve was in a bandhgala and Abdullah had admired the cut. And that is how the serendipitous meeting took place. Spotting Agasti, Salve introduced him to Abdullah. Then things moved fast. Agasti requested Abdullah to accompany him to the VIP lounge. Out came Agasti’s measuring tape — he always carries one — and the measurements were done. What followed a few days later was an impeccable sherwani. Abdullah was impressed. He ordered a suit next, then a pathani, followed by a safari suit. “He remains my client to this day,” says Agasti.

Agasti’s 76 now. And had invited Abdullah to his Andheri home for Ganeshotsav. But Abdullah called because he thought he would not be able to make it. But he’s promised to be back soon for new measurements.

Agasti’s father was a bhikshuk in Nagpur, a wandering monk who stitched coats for a lawyer named Shewde. Agasti’s ambitions were likely sparked by his father’s skills. He left Nagpur for Calcutta, a young man in his early 20s. He found himself a job as a “cutter” in the city. Then he travelled to Moradabad to learn how to stitch sherwanis and then to Mhow, a cantonment town in MP, to study how to make military uniforms. He travelled back to Calcutta, and, this time, landed a job at a tailoring counter because he could speak English.

In 1973, he moved to Bombay. “I was smoking outside Citylight Cinema in Mahim when I noticed a man with scissor marks on his hand, the hallmark of an assistant tailor. He worked at Super Tailors, dressmakers to Hindi film actors,” recalls Agasti. Soon enough, Agasti landed himself a job there.

A door had opened for him. But what worked wonders was his learning from Mhow; 14 years later, that would catapult him to even higher tailoring fame. He stitched the military uniforms for the 1973 film, ‘Dhund’. And Danny Dengzongpa, who played the role of a cruel, wheelchair bound husband of Zeenat Aman in the film, loved the tailoring.

Agasti had been noticed. His star was on the rise. Plus, his Nagpur-honed Hindi was good, and so was his Marathi. He quickly began to acquire admirers.

Actor Sunil Dutt was the first to suggest that he strike out on his own. “There were no Maharashtrians in tailoring then,” Agasti says. He set up a small shop in Dadar in 1975. Word spread fast. Soon, ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh (“he loved safari suits”), Gopinath Munde, Pramod Mahajan (“he wore kurtas without pockets”), Sharad Pawar and Lal Krishna Advani (“three-button jackets”) were clients.

Through lawyer Shirish Gupte and theatre veteran Mohan Wagh, he met Bal Thackeray in 1981. “Balasaheb asked me to design clothes in such a manner that his legs wouldn’t show in photographs,” says Agasti. He crafted a white kurta-pyjama that became the late Shiv Sena chief’s signature look. “I got him a shawl from Kashmir. He mostly preferred white and off-white,” adds Agasti, himself in off-white shirt and pants today “because this way, I don’t have to worry about combinations”. Thackeray nicknamed him “Rajshimpi” (politicians’ tailor).

But you could also call Agasti a film stars’ tailor. Last month, he received the Bharat Gaurav Award at the UK Parliament in London for designing Amrish ‘Mogambo’ Puri’s unforgettable costume in the 1987 blockbuster, Mr India, and also Bal Thackeray’s signature kurta-shawl look.

He is now preparing for the release of his memoir, ‘Stitching Stardom’. The book traces his journey of image-making across comedians and chief ministers, prime ministers and presidents. Much has changed in tailoring — technology, speed, the churn of fast fashion — and much hasn’t. “Earlier it was about who you knew,” says Agasti. “Now it’s word of mouth.”

As tea is served for unannounced guests — BJP’s Raghunath Kulkarni and former national secretary Sunil Deodhar have arrived in the shop — the septuagenarian darzee holds forth on his craft, his clients, and his takeaways from 50 years of dressing up the who’s who.

“Contrary to perception,” he says, “politicians are the easiest clients and the best paymasters.” Many believed his “lucky hand” made their measurements special. As he reminisces about designing costumes for five villains in Anil Kapoor’s ‘Ram Lakhan’, his eyes settle on the crisp shirt Kulkarni is wearing. “The linen suits you,” Agasti says. “It’s linen?” asks Kulkarni. “Yes, and the American cut sits well,” replies Agasti, seated in the shop he opened in Bandra in Nov 1985, its launch postponed by 15 days to mourn the death of his friend Sanjeev Kumar.

Dev Anand would sneak in through the back door, head bobbing, calling out: “ Ey Madhav, kya banaya hai mere liye?” while Sunil Dutt preferred the front, greeting him warmly as “Madhav Seth”. He even kept a special stool for Mehmood, who would arrive most evenings, leaving the tailors in stitches with his antics.

But the costume that cemented his name in Bollywood lore was Mogambo’s in Mr India. The now-iconic piece with its high-collared military cut and gold trimmings was meant to project both colonial grandeur and zamindar-like menace. Puri, who exclaimed “Mogambo… khush hua” on seeing it (here, in the Bandra shop), wore it with relish. “I worked with him from his first film till his last. After he passed away in 2005, I slowly stepped away from films,” says Agasti, who found the era of menacing villains fading from the silver screen. Soon, it was in politics, rather than films, that his reputation as a tailor of image flourished.

From the dhoti-kurta and Jodhpurs era to the rise of the suit-boot and back, Agasti has seen political sartorialism in India come full circle. Various chief ministers, prime ministers and presidents — including Pranab Mukherjee — have taken oath in his creations. The busy Narasimha Rao would often be exercising on his stationary bike at 6 am when Agasti would get an appointment with the silk-jacket-favouring polymath.

Someday soon, he hopes to tailor PM Narendra Modi’s clothes. “I’m a big fan of Narendra Modi ji,” he says. “He dresses sharply, always to suit the occasion.”

Today, as he marks half a century in the trade, the shop is lined with mementoes. Pride of place goes to a cap gifted by former Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane upon retirement. “Clothes make the person,” says Kulkarni. “By that measure, he (Agasti) is a personality builder.”

Deodhar sizes him up as a “self-made man with networking skills and a sharp memory,” adding one enduring quality: “He calls himself a tailor with pride at a time when many look down on the profession. And… he always has a measuring tape handy.”

Mumbai: Rejecting demands for tax relief to the film ‘The Kashmir Files’ which deals with the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, ruling party members in Maharashtra questioned the “political agenda” of the BJP in promoting the new release. The Shiv Sena said the ordeal that the community from Kashmir went through three decades back was now merely being exploited as a political issue whereas it was leaders like Bal Thackeray who had reached out to alleviate conditions for Kashmiri students back then.

The Sena on Wednesday questioned why “Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is the pracharak” of The Kashmir Files. MP Sanjay Raut said just like the blame for former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death was pinned on one family through the film The Tashkent Files — made by the same director Vivek Agnihotri — a similar agenda is being implemented through this work.

“This is an attempt to show the outcry and pain of 32 years ago and it should be appreciated. But there are many truths hidden in it,” he said.

“I don't think anyone else knows the pain of Kashmir as much as Shiv Sena. Balasaheb Thackeray raised his voice in the country about the plight of Kashmiri Pandits and everyone else was silent due to the fear of extremists…a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits had come to meet Balasaheb. At that time, it was he who said give AK-47s in the hands of the Kashmiri Pandits…the delegation had asked for reservation in seats for education. Balasaheb had at that time ordered 5% seats to be reserved for medical and engineering education in Maharashtra for the children of Kashmiri Pandits. So we know what the real files of Kashmir are,” Raut said.

Finance Minister Ajit Pawar, who also spoke on the issue, rejected the demand made by the BJP to exempt the film from tax in the state. Pawar said entertainment tax is covered under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax in which state and Centre share equal components, and so if the Centre gives relief from its 50% share of the tax, the movie would become tax-free in the entire country. Six BJP-ruled states have already given the film a tax waiver.

“For the Shiv Sena this is not a political agenda. We have done it for Kashmiri Pandits. Which BJP-ruled state has done it? Just by making the film tax free the pain will not be erased. You remember this after 32 years because the next four states now have elections,” added Raut.

Bal Thackeray was one of the most loved leaders of our country. He was stylish,creative, witty, aggressive with a tremendous aura surrounding him. It thus came as no surprise to us when we learnt that his most favourite daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray who has produced several filmsearlier, had decided to make his biopic titled ‘Saheb’. She has two sons. The older one Rahul Thackeray has completed his filmmaking course from Canada after which he has assisted Rajkumar Hirani as an assistant in PK. It was always Balasaheb’s desire that he do something big for Rahul and it was Rahul’s wish to make his first film on his aaja (Marathi word for paternal grandfather). The film is in its final stages of scripting and will start shooting end of this year to be released on Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary on Jan 23, 2017. While we will wait to see who plays the ‘Tiger’ himself (the title given to Balasaheb) but it will also be interesting to see who plays the important characters of Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray, Meenatai and Smita Thackeray herself as these were some of the most important people in the life of Balasaheb. Excerpts from a conversation with Smita Thackeray, who literally worshipped Balasaheb.

It can't get bigger than a biopic on Bal Thackeray. Did you talk to him about it while he was alive?
Yes. Initially I wanted to write a book on him. This film is of course very big but it is also very close to our heart and I have been wanting to make it from the time Saheb was alive. He knew that it was my passion to make a film on him. He would say, 'I will keep on talking and you collect the material in whichever way you want.' So whenever we got a chance to sit with him and talk, we would do that. Saheb loved music and he was very creative. He had a small Casio which he used to make music on. His creativity has come in my kids also. Everyone else only talked politics and that is why he enjoyed talking to us as we preferred to not talk about politics. Of course, he had given us the freedom to talk to him about everything, even within the political area and if there was something I didn't like, I was allowed to tell him that. He would never go to the theatre so we would tell him to watch certain films. Either the print would come to the house and he would see the film before its release on a screen created on his wall in the bungalow itself or he would see it on a DVD later based on his time as he was always so short of time. But he loved watching films.

What made you choose your son Rahul to direct this film?
It was Saheb's desire to see Rahul as a director. Any director would want to make this film but it was Saheb's intention to do something really big for Rahul. And Rahul had always told him that he wanted to make a film on him. Also, he has a lot of material and personal experiences with Saheb, so why not him?

The world called him Balasaheb, what did you as his family address him as?
At home we called him Saheb. His sons called him Pilga (his pet name) and his grandchildren called him aaja (grandfather in Marathi). When he was in the house, he was a full family man. He was not strict with us.

Tell us about his top human qualities that you liked the most?
First of all, he was very observative. Every day in the morning, it was a ritual after getting dressed, I would do my puja, bow down in front of my mother-in-law's photo and then go to him, touch his feet and take his blessings before I started my day. At a glance he would catch if I was wearing something wrong or not matching or something not suiting me and he would say, 'Barobar nahi' (meaning not correct). He always had these small handkerchiefs with him. If you coughed or had a cold, he would immediately ring the bell and ask for Olesan to be brought. He would put it on the handkerchief and give it to you out of concern. And he would do that for anyone visiting him. He used to believe in homeopathy. If you didn't go and meet him, his phone would come asking for you. In case you were not well, he would immediately send us homeopathic medicine from his dabba that he kept with him at all times. He knew which medicine was good for what problem. He was a total giver and that is why each and every person in the family was so attached to him. He was totally verbally expressive, whatever he felt he would say, be it right or wrong and would never keep anything in his heart. His going away was a great loss.

Did he ever get angry within the house?
He never had a temper in the house. He used to eat very little but if the cooking was not correct, that is the only time he would get angry. When we were staying together, we would all make different items from our kitchens and send it for him.

What did he like the most about you?
He never mentioned what he liked about us, but we could only make out from his behaviour. We had totally surrendered to him.Whatever he used to guide us, teach us, we used to adopt. He was a great guide. Any guru would want their students to understand and follow them. Equally, he would respect your opposing point of view. He was a Hindu Hriday Samrat. For him Hindu was a person who stayed in Hindustan. He did not dislike Muslims. He only disliked those Muslims who were anti-India (those that were deshdushmans) and they could be from any country.

You earlier lived with the entire family at Matoshree. When did you move to this Juhu home?
We still have a floor there and that is still our main house. Earlier, I would stay there and come to Juhu on weekends. But after Rahul got married, we have moved to Juhu and now go to Matoshree for occasions.

What did Balasaheb enjoy more, politics or films?
Both the fields were very close to his heart. Only because of politics he could not pay attenton to films but his father Prabhodhankar Thackeray was a Marathi actor and it was because of him that Balasaheb became Balasaheb.

Talk about your relationship with Uddhav Thackeray (Bal Thackeray has three sons. Smita is the wife of the middle son, the youngest being Uddhav)
I too am a Maharashtrian (was earlier Smita Chitre) and my parents live in Shivaji Park. While my father worked in Premier Automobiles, my mother was a teacher. I didn't have my own real brother so Uddhav for me was like my real brother.

What will you look for in the person who plays Balasaheb in the film?
He must have aura, a good voice and command over his dialogues.

Do you miss him?
For me, it is so difficult to say he was as I still feel that he is alive. We still don't believe he is not here and genuinely feel his presence all the time. I miss him every which way. His blessings, his guidance, his wittiness, his joyfullness, the way of eating his food. When he was not well, I would take the dabba to him, we have so many memories with him. He was so good to even my parents and they too miss him equally. Whoever met him even if he was from the opposing party respected him and that is why Balasaheb is the only one person after Mahatma Gandhi I could say, who had a position that nobody had. I don't think there will ever be a Balasaheb again. And that is why he could win everyone's heart. On the day of his procession, I could see everyone even Sikhs, Muslims at Mahim, in thousands standing for him, showing their love. We all miss him. There is a big void that no one can fill. I want to gift this film to all the Maharashtrians whom he has been associated with and who were always there in his heart.