Amitabh Bachchan, who formally released the book, claimed that Husain was a gifted personality. "We have only seen the genius of his paintings. Some of us have been fortunate to see the genius of his filmmaking too. Now, we see the genius of his writing. He has a multi-faceted personality."

Bachchan, who was accompanied by wife Jaya, cast aside the thought of acting in a Husain film. "It seems very unlikely that he will ask me to act in his film," he says.

The Bachchans also read out extracts from the book.