Chennai: “I broke down and wept the moment I heard Michael Jackson is dead,” said South Indian dancing star, actor, and film director Prabhu Deva. “It is indeed a very, very sad day. Whatever I am today, I owe it all to Michael Jackson.”

Prabhu Deva, whose fleet-footed dancing style and fluid body movements often resulted in him being compared with his idol — he was even called the Indian Michael Jackson when he first came into the limelight — said the fame and honour he has received were all due to the pop icon.

“I became a great fan of his at a young and impressionable age as I was greatly moved by his singing and dancing,” he told DNA.

“My first impression of the king of pop was on television,” Prabhu Deva recalled. “His album Thriller was a great learning experience for me. The videos, songs, music, everything about that album was so superb. I picked up a lot of tips from it.”

That was the point Prabhu Deva’s fascination with Jackson began, and it has continued to this day. “I’m sure the world will remember this legend of pop both for his audio and video,” he said. “It is difficult not to keep one’s emotions in check as he has inspired me all my life.”

The high point of Prabhu Deva’s life, naturally, was meeting his idol in Mumbai back in 1996. Deeply upset by his death, he kept repeating, “It is very sad, very sad”, and said it would be very difficult to think of the music world without him.

Born in Mysore on April 3, 1973, Prabhu Deva grew up in the film world of Chennai where his father Mugur Sundar was a dance master for movies.