When Michael came to rock

Michael Jackson, the troubled rock star who died of cardiac arrest on June 26, 2009 at the age of 50, had a great spiritual connect with India, according to Sabbas Joseph and Viraf Sarkari, directors of Wizcraft, the international event management and entertainment firm that handled Jackson’s performance in Bombay in 1996, as reported in Mumbai Mirror (MM) on June 27, 2009. The historic concert was held on a scale never before seen in India, and the legendary King of Pop’s famous sound byte, "Main Hindustan aa raha hoon (I’m coming to India),” won for him many hearts in the country.

Sarkari recalls, "We first met him in Los Angeles to confirm the concert. We were told he is very keen on performing in India. We’d presented him with a Ganesha, a Nataraj and a sherwani. And without requiring any explanation he said, ‘Yes, that’s Ganesha, the god of luck.’” Later, when Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray presented a silver statue of Nataraj to Jackson in Bombay, the star reacted with, "Yes, I know that’s the god of dance and art,” MM adds.

When Jackson flew into the city in a private jet in 1996, the entire airport had to be shut down and the staff lined up for a glimpse of the performer. Sarkari reminisces that all the celebrities and industrialists wanted to meet him. "We arranged meet-and-greet sessions with him,” and Jackson kept all his commitments. "He was a gentle person and met everyone respectfully,” Sarkari recalls. A sentiment echoed by Joseph is that Jackson was the easiest artiste to work with. He was very humble and his staff most professional, MM reports.

However, the event was not without its share of controversy, the shadow of which lingers to this day. The tax exemption granted to the show by the government was challenged by advocate Shirish Deshpande and 13 years later the petition is still being heard in the Bombay High Court. Wizcraft are yet to receive the money collected from sale of tickets for the show (about three crore rupees) as the company’s accounts were frozen following court orders, MM reveals. "We are trying to get back that amount,” Sarkari informed the newspaper. He also said "It was a charity show. Not even a penny was charged (by Jackson).”

Deshpande explained to MM: "My grievance was not against the concert, but against the government’s decision to grant 100 percent entertainment tax exemption to it… (while) on the other hand, the then Sena-BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government increased the sales tax on medicines… I did not have anything against Michael Jackson or the concert. He was a great artiste, but I was against the government’s dual policy.”