Husain's Thief of Baghdad unveiled

BANGALORE: 'Baghdad Bombed', a newspaper headline, evoked in M F Husain's memories of the Hollywood flick Thief of Baghdad starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. The film tells the adventurous tale of a thief who falls in love with a beauty. "And then I realised how this same Baghdad had turned into a nightmare. I haven't showed the bombing. But here is the greatest thief of our times," said Husain, unveiling a preview of Thief of Baghdad film posters - a series of digital graphics inspired by this thought process - in Bangalore on Sunday.The city's glitterati gathered at the Gaja Gamini Art Club were enthralled with the preview of Thief of Baghdad and the readings from the book Where Art Thou, transliterated from M F Husain's autobiography M F Hussain ki Kahani Apni Zubani into the English by journalist turned movie-maker Khalid Mohamed (of Fiza and Zubeidaa fame). Along with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Khalid presented a reading of the book after it was released. "The book is not about my birth and life-history. It is about very ordinary things that happened and that I wanted to share; which I hadn't told my children," said Husain. After speaking to several well-known authors, Husain's pursuit ended with Mohamed who was able to translate without diluting the essence of thought. Kiran also promised club-members amidst much cheering that Khalid Mohamed's forthcoming film Tehzeeb would be previewed at the club in September. Husain autographed copies of the book on sale at the venue.