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This is an archive article published on June 14, 2021

Lagaan’s Goli aka actor Daya Shankar Pandey: ‘We didn’t let Bhuvan and Gauri romance’

Actor Daya Shankar Pandey, who played Goli in Lagaan reveales his story of cold feet in the song "Mitwa" and how the cast did not let Aamir Khan's Bhuvan romance Gracy Singh's Gauri.

lagaan 20 years cast goli bhuvan aamir khan daya shankarLagaan was set in the 1890s British India. (Photo: Screenshot/Aamir Khan Productions)

For actor Daya Shankar Pandey, who played the fast bowler Goli in Ashutosh Gowariker’s cult film Lagaan, it was the dancing part which he dreaded. The actor, who had a proper song “Mitwa” along with Aamir Khan’s Bhuvan, revealed that he is happy that he refused to follow its choreography.

Lagaan, which released in 2001, will mark its 20th anniversary on June15. Ahead of the special day, Daya Shankar revisited the making of the epic saga, and also shared why “Mitwa” gave him a cold feet, literally.

Exclusively chatting with indianexpress.com, Daya recalled shooting the song, which was based around his character, a farmer by profession. He said, “Bhuvan is trying to convince me to join the cricket team. Even the lyrics were written accordingly – “Dharti ka raja hai tu” which means it’s talking about a farmer. The plan was that Aamir and I will dance. I even rehearsed with choreographer Ganesh Hegde for 4-5 days. But both of us banged our heads. I did try, but I noticed in the rehearsals that I was pathetic. I just couldn’t manage it. Then I went to Aamir and Ashutosh with folded hands requested them to not make me dance. I knew 20 years down the line, people will make fun seeing me dance with Aamir. Just to save my respect, I slowly retracted.”

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lagaan stills cast aamir daya shankar rajesh vivek amin hajee Lagaan had an ensemble cast. (Photo: Screenshot/Aamir Khan Productions)

Daya shared that every day, the cast reached the set, got into their costumes and stayed around to shoot their scenes. He however, joked that the 11 actors were part of almost every scene in Lagaan, except one.

“If you notice, all of us are in every frame. We didn’t let Bhuvan and Gauri romance, we used to barge in everywhere. It was only the song “O Re Chori” where we are missing, because Bhuvan didn’t tell us. He just went on the hilltop and sang it secretly. If we knew, we would’ve reached there as well,” he said.

Lagaan, also starred Gracy Singh, Suhasini Mulay, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, AK Hangal, the British cast, apart from the eleven actors who formed team ‘Lagaan 11’.

The film was Aamir Khan’s debut production and it got nominated for the best foreign language film at the Academy Award, the following year.

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ED arrests Biswal Tradelink's MD in fake bank guarantee case, to confront him with Anil Ambani
ED arrests Biswal Tradelink’s MD in fake bank guarantee case, to confront him with Anil Ambani
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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Private Limited (BTPL), in connection with an alleged fake bank guarantee case. “A probe has revealed that BTPL fraudulently arranged and submitted fake bank guarantees of Rs 68.2 crore along with forged State Bank of India (SBI) endorsements and fabricated confirmations for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender. For providing this bank guarantee, BTPL received Rs 5.40 crore from Reliance Power Limited,” an official said. Seven days after searching multiple locations in Mumbai linked to Anil Ambani, the ED has summoned the industrialist on August 5 to join the investigation into a money laundering case linked to a multi-crore bank loan fraud involving companies of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The ED has also issued a lookout circular (LOC) to prevent him from travelling abroad. BTPL was one of the companies where the ED recently conducted searches. Biswal's arrest was made on August 1 and he was produced before a Delhi Court, which sent him to their custody till August 6. "We are planning to confront him with Anil Ambani during questioning and will try to verify some facts," an official said. The ED has initiated its investigation against BTPL based on an FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Delhi Police, against the firm, its directors and others, for allegedly providing a fake bank guarantee which was submitted to SECI. “During the investigation, the ED has collected several pieces of evidence and they confirmed the use of fake documents in the name of certain banks and fake email IDs in the name of SBI. Probe has also revealed that BTPL, a small company incorporated in 2019, maintained multiple undisclosed bank accounts and carried out transactions disproportionate to its declared turnover. Many violations of the Companies Act are found, and no statutory records are found at registered addresses, such as books of accounts, shareholders’ registers, etc,” the official said. The probe also revealed that dummy directors were used solely to sign documents, and found at least seven undisclosed bank accounts of the company. “Proceeds of crime, of crores of rupees, have been traced to these accounts,” the official added. A spokesperson for Reliance Power said the ED case related to a bank guarantee. “The company and its subsidiaries acted bona fide and have been a victim of fraud, forgery and a conspiracy. The company has made due disclosure on this to the stock exchanges on November 7, 2024. A criminal complaint in this regard has already been lodged with the Economic Offence Wing of Delhi Police against the third party on October 16, 2024. The due process of law will follow," said the spokesperson.

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