Gurdas Maan shares story behind his cameo in ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’

Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) 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-starrer ‘Veer-Zaara’. The music icon crooned both the songs, and even made a cameo appearance in ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ as he did Bhangra with SRK. The singer said that the cameo wasn’t planned and it was at the insistence of the late filmmaker Yash Chopra that he featured in the song. Gurdas Maan told IANS, “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 further mentioned, “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’”. He called it a beautiful moment to be part of a song that represents our country’s soul. ‘Veer-Zaara’ is set to be re-released in theatres after almost 20 years of its release. The film tells the story of star-crossed lovers from India and Pakistan, who live away from each other after SRK’s character of Veer is imprisoned on false charges in Pakistan. The film is remembered for its heartwarming songs composed by the late music composer Madan Mohan. —