Fourteen years after stepping away from late night TV, veteran host Shekhar Suman is back, and he’s already making headlines. His new YouTube show ‘Shekhar Tonite’ debuted on May 15 with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari as the first guest, and during the conversation, the actor revisited one of the most memorable moments from his popular 1997 show ‘Movers and Shakers’, a 3 am phone call from Bal Thackeray that led to a stunning on-air exchange.
Shekhar Suman recalls that he received a phone call from Bal Thackeray at 3 am
On the show, Shekhar Suman recalls how a late-night call from Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray turned into one of the most interesting interviews of his career. During a candid conversation with Nitin Gadkari, Soman recalls: “Balasaheb Thackeray called me once at 3 am, and complimented me on some interviews I had done. I asked him if he liked the show. Would he come? He accepted, and we shot the next day. Those were moments of terror interviewing him; that man had an aura about him.”
I remember looking into his eyes and asking him: “Are you a fascist?” He replied: “Yes, I am a fascist because India needs a fascist.” amazing. That was the moment we all clapped, and I said: This is a guy who has the guts to say something like that.In a separate conversation with IANS recently, Shekhar also shared a light-hearted moment that followed the interview.“After the interview, he said, ‘That was so much fun, do another one,’ and I said, ‘Sir, we don’t have another costume,'” he recalls.
“Let’s do it on this one,” he replied. So this is an unforgettable moment for me.”
More about “Shekhar Tonight”
‘Shekhar Tonight’ marks Shekhar Suman’s return to the format he pioneered in India with ‘Movers and Shakers’, which debuted in 1997 and gave the country its first late-night talk show experience. The new show is streaming on YouTube.On the acting front, he was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s show ‘Heeramand: The Diamond Bazaar’. The show premiered on Netflix in May 2024.
