Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who earned the ire of Bal Thackeray after he was presented Pakistan's highest civilian award, today mourned the death of the Shiv Sena supremo saying he "always thought he was not a tiger but a lion".   

"We are deeply grieving the passing of Balasaheb Thackeray who I always thought was not a tiger but a lion," Kumar tweeted.   

In a detailed write-up on his blog, Kumar wrote, "He had the virtues of a lion. We will cherish in our memories the lively evenings at his home when we smoothened out our differences over cups of strong masala tea. I found him extremely sensitive on occasions, especially during the days Sunil Dutt was going from pillar to post to get justice for his son Sanjay."   

"Balasaheb's response was that of a father who understood a father's desperation to save his son. We pray for Balasaheb's family, especially for his son Uddhav, to derive strength from the Almighty to bear the irreparable loss."  

In 1998, Kumar is said to have had a fallout with Thackeray when the latter demanded the actor to return the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian award.