New Delhi, Jun 11 (IANS): Dusky beauty Tannishtha Chatterjee had met legendary painter M.F. Husain once in London and she remembers him as a soft spoken and a fearless man.

The "Road" actress had met the painter at a common's friend house in London, and she remembers him as a soft spoken man who was so full of life even at the age of 90 - when she had met him for the first time.

Husain, who died in a London hospital Thursday at the age of 95, had left the country in 2006 after he received death threats from Hindu activist groups over his nude paintings of Indian deities.

Just like other celebrities, Tannishtha too feels it was ironic and shameful that an artist of his stature was forced to live away from his homeland.

"It's ironical that a country which celebrates the human form in all its traditional arts penalised the artist who put Indian contemporary art on the world map for doing so," she said.

"We as artists should stand against any stifling of artistic expression and remember artists have to always be fearless like Husian. May his soul rest in peace," she added.