Punjabi star Gurdas Maan recalls stopping his own shoot for Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta starrer Veer Zaara : Bollywood News

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Ahead of the re-release of Veer Zaara in theatres this week, Punjabi music legend Gurdas Maan has shared his memories of working on the songs ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ and ‘Lohri’ from the Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji starrer. While the singer-actor crooned both these songs from the film’s album, and even made a cameo appearance in ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’, he revealed that the latter wasn’t planned and it happened because of late filmmaker Yash Chopra, who directed the romantic drama.

Punjabi star Gurdas Maan recalls stopping his own shoot for Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta starrer Veer Zaara

Readers would recall that in one of the scenes of ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ Shah Rukh Khan is seen doing Bhangra and even shakes a leg or two with Gurdas Maan. The singer recalled the scene and revealed that the cameo was planned after much insistence from the late filmmaker Yash Chopra who also convinced him to feature in the song. Gurdas Maan reminisced about the same and said, “The film Veer-Zaara and the songs ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ and ‘Lohri’ are very close to my heart. One of my fondest memories is how it all came together. At the time, I was shooting for Des Hoya Pardes in Chandigarh, and Veer-Zaara was also being filmed. Yash Ji and I were staying in the same hotel”.

He went on to add, “I had already recorded the song ‘Lohri’ and parts of ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ (the Mukhda and Jugni portions), when one day Yash ji, told me that they were about to shoot the song ‘Aisa Des hai Mera’ and since I was there, and I had lent my voice to the song, why not appear in it as well? That’s when I paused my own film’s shoot (Des Hoyaa Pardes) and joined the shoot for Veer-Zaara. It was such a beautiful moment to be part of a song that represents our country’s soul.”

Veer-Zaara is set to re-release in theatres on September 13, nearly 20 years after its original release. The film is remembered for its heartwarming songs and the timeless love story of star crossed lovers hailing from India and Pakistan. Starring Rani Mukerji in the role of a lawyer who plays cupid and reunites the estranged lovers, the film featured a host of celebrities including Boman Irani, Kirron Kher, Anupam Kher, Divya Dutta, among others with Manoj Bajpayee, Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini in special appearances. Directed by the late Yash Chopra, the film originally released in theatres on November 12, 2004.

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