A Leicester man who is named after a famous Bollywood star has ended up with a role in a film with his famous namesake!
Dharminder Shoker from Knighton, Leicester, is
Asset Manager at the University of Leicester where a crew of over 100
are located for the shooting of Yamla Pagla Deewana 2 (Mad Madder
Maddest 2).
The film features Bollywood legend Dharmendra and
his star sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. The family franchise movie is a
sequel to the blockbuster hit of the same name.
Dharminder Shoker has been making arrangements for
the shoot at the University campus where the botanic garden, Library,
Students’ Union and halls of residence are being used as a backdrop for
the movie.
He said: “I first met Sunny Deol and his team a
couple of months back, when they had been invited by the University of
Leicester to take a look around the campus as part of their location
scouting visit in Leicester.
“It was very exciting to get to meet such a
massive Bollywood film star, and a very proud moment when the entire
team immediately began to complement the University’s campus and the
facilities we provide here.
“The crews first location visit coincided with our
summer graduation –and Sunny also took time out to meet some of the
graduating students and their families. They were thrilled!”
Filming was quickly scheduled across the
University’s estate at the main University Road site as well as the
Oadby Student Village including the Botanic Gardens. But there was also
a surprise in store for Dharminder:
“It was totally unexpected when the YPD team
handed me a script for three scenes in the film, asking me to play the
role of Mr Jindal, Sunny’s client in the film. I play a UK-based banker
who assigns Sunny’s character, Parmveer Singh Dillon, with a project
which is where the story develops from.
“Having never acted before, but always up for a challenge, I accepted and got rehearsing.”
Sunny Deol said: “Dharminder Shoker showed plenty
of enthusiasm and passion for the role. People will certainly notice him
in the film and we are very pleased with his contribution.”
Before filming commenced, Dharminder Shoker
visited Jasvinder Singh Bath, story/script writer of both the YPD films
and Sangeeth Sivan, Director of the film, to rehearse.
“Little did I know that the Bollywood legend
himself, the senior Deol, Dharmendra, was also going to be at the
location. It’s no secret in our family where my parents got their
inspiration from when they named me, so it was a litter nerve-racking to
say the least when first meeting Dharam Ji. But after receiving such a
warm Punjabi welcome and his blessings, I was good to go.
“The very first day of filming started at the
University’s award-winning David Wilson Library, with the first scene in
which Sunny and I meet. When I arrived on the set with my wife, Parneet
, who joined me for much needed moral support, we were immediately made
to feel part of the YPD family and I was whisked off for make-up -yes
make-up!
“Having never been on a film set before I expected
it to be chaotic, but I was pleasantly surprised at the way in which
the operation ran like clockwork and how the whole film crew put their
heart and soul into the shoot.
After the Mahurat had taken place on the
University campus (the blessing ceremony which takes place before the
first day of filming), Sunny kindly took me under his wing. I am not
sure how many film stars of the Deol’s calibre would go to the lengths,
even making the extra effort to give me cues when he was out of shot.
“I was also extremely happy to learn that as part
of the Bollywood experience in Leicester, the YPD team have been keen to
encourage technical involvement from the University’s film studies
students and through the added support and guidance of Steve White,
Leicester’s highly enthusiastic ambassador for education and Ashwani
Chopra FRSA, the highly experienced UK based Line Producer for the film,
this should prove to be a very useful work experience for our
students.”
The crew for YPD2 will be in Leicester until November and the film is being released next summer.
