Riteish Deshmukh tears up during inauguration of father Vilasrao Deshmukh's statue

Mumbai: Recalling the contribution and legacy of late Congressman and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his actor-son Riteish Deshmukh broke down even as tears rolled down the eyes of those on stage and the audience.

Riteish, a prominent actor and filmmaker who has made a mark in the Hindi and Marathi film industries, also spoke on his bonding with his uncle and former Maharashtra minister Dilip Deshmukh.

Hailing from Latur in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh (May 26, 1945 – August 14, 2012) was a two-time Maharashtra chief minister and an ex-minister in the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

Riteish was speaking at a function to unveil the statue of late Vilasrao ji, as he was popularly known, in Latur.

Deshmukh wife’s Vaishali Deshmukh, their sons Amit, Riteish, and Dheeraj, family friend Ulhas Pawar, state Congress president Nana Patole, Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, and Jayant Patil, the Maharashtra unit chief of Sharad Pawar-headed NCP group, were present.

“It is 12 years that Saheb has passed away,” Riteish said and broke down as Amit rushed to console him.

Their mother too was in tears while the eyes of the people on stage also welled up.

Thereafter, Riteish went on to speak about his uncle. “I want to say publicly that I love you deeply,” he said about his uncle Dilip Deshmukh. “My uncle is always with us….it was like ‘if I am not needed I am there, if I am needed, I am there’...we all miss our father but our uncle is always with us,” he said and also spoke about the "deep relationship" of his late father and uncle.

About his upbringing, he said: “My father, my mother never imposed anything against us. They told us to become educated…(Amit) Bhaiya became a chemical engineer, Dheeraj completed his MBA, I became an architect.”

Amit is a three- time MLA from Latur City and former minister while Dheeraj is a first-time MLA from Latur Rural.

Speaking about Amit, Riteish said: "Bhaiya is working in Latur...people of entire Maharashtra too have a lot of expectations from Bhaiya."