Michael Jackson's Bollywood connection

It has been five years since the King of Pop Michael Jackson died under mysterious circumstances. However, he is still in our hearts for his music, dance and style. Not only has he influenced musicians across the globe, he has also had an impact on Bollywood. Be it movies, songs or dance moves, we have been impersonating his style for decades. In fact, actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Javed Jaffrey, Hrithik Roshan and Prabhu Dheva have been inspired by MJ’s dancing style. So much is the obsession for MJ that Mithun even named his son after him. Not only is Bollywood influenced by Michael Jackson, MJ too was in love with India and its film industry. As we pay our tributes to MJ, let us have a look at MJ’s B-Town connection.

Hrithik Roshan: Bollywood’s Greek God Hrithik Roshan also had his MJ moment. The superstar was pleasantly surprised when the singing legend walked up to him and introduced himself. Quoting the Roshans, a TOI report says that Michael Jackson casually walked into Hrithik's makeup room in a Bel Air apartment in LA, where the actor was shooting for Kites in 2008. At first MJ’s bodyguards entered the room. Hrithik was taken aback to see the strongly built men. On questioning them, he got to know that they were Jackson's bodyguards who had come to do a recce as the pop star was shooting the next day at the same venue. Later in the day, MJ walked in as shooting for Kites was going on and he introduced himself as "My name is Michael," he is reported to have told Hrithik, his Mexican co-star Barbara Mori, and Rakesh Roshan. Quoting a source, the 2009 TOI report says that it was funny to see someone like him who the whole world knows introducing himself. In fact Hrithik and the King of the Pop spoke for a short time also.

Amitabh Bachchan: Bollywood’s superstar Amitabh Bachchan is a big fan of singing legend Michael Jackson. In fact, the superstar was very disturbed about the singer’s sudden death on June 25, 2009, and had also blogged about his despair about the same. However, on the last death anniversary of Michael Jackson, Big B had shared a very interesting story about his first meeting with the singing legend. He shared how MJ had knocked on his hotel room door in New York by mistake. Big B had also posted about the madness and fan frenzy that MJ’s concerts used to get. He had posted, “.. I had met him in New York once, when he had knocked on my Hotel room door by mistake, thinking it was his … we were staying in the same Hotel.” Well Big B will always remember his first and the last face-to-face meeting with MJ!

Anybody Can Dance: When it comes to making biopics or movies inspired by legends, then nothing can beat Bollywood. It is for this reason that Remo D'Souza's Anybody Can Dance was completely inspired by the King of Pop Michael Jackson. In fact, choreographer Salman Khan, who was made his Bollywood debut with the film, had told PTI that the 3D dance film has kept pop legend Michael Jackson alive in every way possible. He said it is already a known fact that Remo is a great fan of MJ. Since ABCD is a dance film, the makers had kept the legend alive in every act of the film. While watching it people will get a glimpse of his moves all the way till the end. Even Prabhu Dheva, who was a part of the film, will also pay a special song tribute to Jackson along with Remo. It seems all great choreographers of B-Town are greatly influence by MJ’s style of dancing.

AR Rahman: A R Rahman is a self-confessed fan of Michael Jackson. He is considered to have been inspired by MJ’s music and his music videos too are shot the same way as Jacksons. In fact, he is said to be completely smitten by the famous MJ moonwalk. In fact, the music maestro of India was deeply shocked by MJ’s untimely death and in an interview to Hindu spoke about his first meeting with the King of Pop. He said he met MJ after the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles. Calling the meet a pleasant and memorable one, he said that he loved India and the people of the country. He also told Rahman that his dancing came from his soul. In fact, Rahman has gone on record to say how he has been influenced and inspired by MJ.