Mumbai, Nov 05:It was a day of historical paradoxes. Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, first refused to don a Gandhi cap and later was all smiles as he gave the mahurat clap for the period film 1857: The Rising, based on the life of legendary freedom fighter and the hero of the first Indian mutiny against the Raj, Mangal Pandey. Prince Charles sounds the clapboard for the first shot of the Indo-British film, 1857: The Rising, as Bollywood star Aamir Khan, the lead actor in the film, looks on, in Mumbai on Tuesday.


In the first of two major engagements in the city on Tuesday, Prince Charles` refusal to don the Gandhi cap offered to him by the dabbawallas not only raised quite a few eyebrows, but also came as a big let-down for the hordes of photographers waiting to capture the moment. Historical allusions and refusals notwithstanding, the 50-odd dabbawallas present at the lawns of the Heritage Building of the Western Railways at Churchgate in south Mumbai were visibly in awe of the Prince.
Twenty-three years after he received a sensational kiss from the then upcoming actress Padmini Kolhapure, Prince Charles had another date with Bollywood at the Hotel Oberoi, where he gave a mahurat clap for Ketan Mehta`s ambitious film 1857: The Rising, starring Aamir Khan and British actor Toby Stephen.

Aamir, whose Lagaan won him an Oscar nomination, gave the opening shot along with Toby Stephens. "You do not understand!! India is rising, nobody and nothing can stop it ..... not even my life!" Aamir was delivering the lines to Toby with his trademark gusto, in the pivotal role of Mangal Pandey. Toby is playing the role of British Commanding Officer William Gordon.


The opening shot, which depicts the beginning of what is more known as the First War of Indian Independence, evoked instant applause from the Prince and the who`s who of Bollywood present at the venue. The irony, however, was not lost on the occasion, as to why the heir to the British throne had chosen to be a part of the shooting of a film that is not expected to project the imperial rulers in a good light. The Prince discussed the storyline with the Indo-British team of the film as also film locations and costumes to be used. The film deals with the manner in which Indian soldiers revolted against the East India Company over the suspected use of animal fat-greased gun cartridges. Another highlight of the film is the friendship between Mangal Pandey and Commander William Gordon.

Dubbed by its producer Bobby Bedi as the costliest Bollywood film ever, 1857: The Rising is being directed by Ketan Mehta. While A R Rehman has composed the music for the film, Farooq Dhondy has written the script. Apart from Aamir Khan and Toby Stephens, Bollywood`s international face Aishwarya Rai, actress Rani Mukherjee and her British counterpart Carol Burnes feature in the film. While his date with Bollywood was a roaring hit, Prince Charles had earlier in the morning won the hearts of Mumbai`s most enterprising tribe in the country`s commercial Capital - the dabbawallas. The 5000-odd dabbawallas, who have been conspicuous by their presence in the city for over a century now, reach meals to 1.5 lakh officegoers every working afternoon. What stands out is their network that involves the collection of lunch boxes from the homes of office-goers, sorting them out, transporting them on suburban trains, delivering to the offices and returning them to where they belong.

Dressed in a double-breasted blue suit, Prince Charles took time out of his busy schedule to meet about 50 dabbawallas. Accompanied by security personnel and a translator, the heir to the British throne was greeted with a warm namaste by the dabbawallas, who had lined up to welcome him. The Prince reciprocated the greeting in a similar manner.

For the 50 dabbawallas in white kurta-pyjamas, it was not just a big occasion, but also an auspicious one as the Prince was meeting them on the day of Gyaras and Ekadashi. Followers of Sant Gyaneshwar of Pandharpur, the dabbawallas, most of whom are from Western Maharashtra, consider the day as an important one during the year.

The dabbawallas have earned a `Six Sigma` rating in the American business magazine Forbes Global. It is this rating, which is 99.999999 (a fraction of an error in six million transactions) that made Prince Charles come knocking at their door. A curious Prince Charles listened attentively when the leaders of the dabbawalla community explained to him the details of their lunchbox distributing trade. The network operates on a colour coding system, which helps the dabbawallas identify the officegoers the lunch boxes belong to and reach them to the right individual at the right office, and needless to say, always at the right time.


"Interesting, wonderful," was the instant reaction of Prince Charles after he heard the dabbawallas out. An excited President of Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charitable Trust, Raghunath Medge, later said: "We were thrilled to have the royal guest. We had not planned anything special or specific, but we tried to explain to him what we have been doing for years." The dabbawallas garlanded the Prince and presented him with a shawl, a memento carrying the carving of Sant Gyaneshwar, a tiffin box, and a Gandhi cap. While the dabbawallas and photographers present insisted that Prince Charles wear the cap, the latter firmly declined to oblige them for reasons best known to him.