Ghai holds dandiya nite for charity

Actor Sunny Deol who had reportedly entered into a Rs 9 lakh agreement with the Khar Gymkhana authorities to use their ground for a nine-day dandiya raas programme, eventually backed out. However, director Subhash Ghai held his Taal Dandiya Raas Nite 99 show at the premises last week, featuring almost the entire Taal cast.

Sources said that Deol had planned to shoot for one of his forthcoming films there. “As he would have had a polished crowd and infrastructural facilities ready-made, he would have made a profit of at least Rs 25 lakh,” gymkhana sources told a newspaper. But Deol, for reasons still unknown, abandoned the idea and has now gone abroad.

Sources said that Deol had backed out following a controversy regarding the ground which has been leased to the gymkhana by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Asif Bhamla, a Congress student leader and president of We Love India (formerly I Love Bandra), roped in Ghai for the show. The entire starcast of Taal was present in full force at the ground. The Taal se taal mila function was inaugurated by newly-elected MP, Sunil Dutt.

Ghai said the programme was dedicated entirely for the cause of national integration. Bhamla added he did not know much about Deol’s decision to back out. “In our case, the programme has not been arranged for any commercial purpose. The money generated will be donated to a home for the aged,” said Bhamla.