A wait worth the watch: ‘Dangal’ fever grips Kila Raipur and Gujjarwal villagers of Ludhiana

There is a palpable excitement among the villagers of Kila Raipur and Gujjarwal with the trailers and songs of Aamir Khan’s ‘Dangal’, an upcoming biopic based on Haryanvi wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, recently hitting the social media, television and cinema screens.

After watching their village portrayal in the songs and trailers of the movie, the villagers wish that the actor visits again for promoting the film, set to release by December end. Most of the film and its songs have been shot in these villages and Khan closely bonded with the villagers during his shoot breaks and day offs from the shooting.

“We are overwhelmed to catch a glimpse of our villages especially its streets in the trailer and songs of Dangal. Even elderly are talking about it in their daily saaths and go on to laud the Bollywood stars and directors for coming to Punjab villages for shooting films, more so in the last few years.

“ We will be ready to extend a warm welcome once again from the core of our hearts if the actor visits again for promoting the film before its release”, said Dilpreet Singh Grewal and Amanpreet Singh, youngsters from Kila Raipur and Gujjarwal.

Surinder Kaur who runs a general store along with her husband at Chota Bazar of Kila Raipur was elated to share, “Like many other shops of the village, I spotted my shop too in one of the songs. I have already called all my relatives to convey the same. Wish Khan is back, as I would love to thank him personally”.

Similarly, Harchet Singh who owns a punjabi jutti (shoe) shop at a market in Gujjarwal, known for its narrow lanes, proudly revealed that he was spellbound to come across a one second glimpse of his shop in a song from the movie.

“Some youngsters of the village came to my shop to show me the video of that song which left me dazzled. The most interesting fact about this shooting is that, both these villages and its markets were converted into Haryana’s Bilali village to which the main protagonist of the movie Phogat belongs and the story of the film is based. To ensure authenticity, all the sign boards were painted in Hindi and all the Punjabi hoardings were removed. Our shops were also named in Hindi and were given typical Haryanvi names”, underlined Singh.

Paramjit Singh Grewal, leader of youth sports club of Kila Raipur stated that almost everyone in the village especially the youngsters have pictures of Aamir Khan from the shooting days in their phones and many also took selfies with him that have gone viral on various social networking sites.

Interestingly, it took several weeks for the film team to get these villages re-painted from Punjabi to Hindi that began last year in early July and shooting commenced from early September. Some traditional homes in both the villages were also booked for an entire year. Meanwhile, Khan has also shared his picture with film writer and director Nitesh Tiwari taken at village Kila Raipur on his Facebook page. His body transformation video that he shared two days ago on social media has become very popular among all. It showcased how he gained several kilos for his role and later his struggle to lose it within five months.