Dhoti is the height of Indian fashion: Suniel Shetty

Suniel Shetty’s new reality show India’s Asli Champion Hai Dum sees the host clad in a dhoti-kurta climbing a mountain and waving a flag from its summit. What many don’t know, is that the ethnic look isn’t drawn so much from the actor-host’s urge to promote Indian fashion as much as it was from his being inspired by the late Vinod Khanna’s look in Mera Gaon Mera Desh.

Says Suniel, “Vinodji’s dhoti-clad image with a teeka on his forehead, was stuck in my mind. My obsession with the dhoti and Vinodji’s image inspired me to do this shot. Also, Indian wear to me is the height of fashion. We shot for the scene, and the very next day, I heard that Vinodji had passed away. It was unreal! We’ve always got along like a house on fire..”

Originally, Suniel says that the creative team wanted him to wear tracks and vest as the shot required him was to climb and run. “However, I told them that this is a show where the kids need a lot of inner strength. We are creating legends out of ordinary people. When you go to Lord Shiva and chant Har Har Mahadeo, nothing can be more powerful than that.”