Actress Bhagyashree who made her Bollywood debut with Maine Pyar Kiya belongs to the Sangli royal family. Born on 23 February 1969 Bhagyashree’s first film itself created history and made her immensely popular. Very few people know that she started her acting career with the TV serial Kachchi Dhoop. Do you know Bhagyashree once worked in a film with a real gangster? The gangster accused of over 20 murders told the actress on the set “I like you very much.” What happened after that is very interesting. Actress Bhagyashree shared an interesting story in an interview with Doordarshan Sahyadri: “All the characters I have played in my films are memorable. I used to sign films keeping in mind that the characters should remain in people’s minds even after watching the film. At that time there weren’t many offers for a married actress like me and I didn’t like most of the roles that came my way. I have worked in some Kannada some Telugu and some Bengali films. In one Telugu film I worked with a real criminal and I was very scared during the shoot.” The actress said “After taking permission from the government these criminals were brought out of jail for the film’s shooting. The story of the film was inspired by the personal lives of the criminals. My character was that of a journalist who meets them learns about their lives and gathers information. She wants to convey that not every criminal is born a criminal — circumstances can turn a person into one. Society has the power to help such people change for the better. Basically it was that kind of story.” The Maine Pyar Kiya actress further said “When I signed the film it seemed very interesting. I reached the set for shooting and one day while I was sitting there I was told ‘Gangster Bhai is coming for the shoot. He has murdered about 20–30 people.’ As soon as the gangster arrived I was shocked to see him. He was dressed in saffron clothes wearing several chains around his neck and was followed by 10–12 bodyguards. He came sat down and said to me ‘I like you very much.’ On hearing this my breath caught in my throat. I thought What will happen now?” Narrating an interesting anecdote from the sets of the film Bhagyashree said I got scared after listening to the gangsters words but what he said next was very shocking. The gangster said that he has a sister who looks like me. That is why he had this kind of feeling in his mind. I got peace after hearing this. Who is Bhagyashrees husband? Bhagyashree married Himalaya Dasani in 1989. He is a resident of Jaipur. They were childhood sweethearts and met in their school. The actress recalled in an old interview “We went to school together — he was the naughtiest kid in class and I was always the class monitor. We would fight all the time and the rest of the class would have a blast! We were like Yin and Yang — the more we fought the more it became clear that we couldn’t be apart. We never dated though…he never even told me how he felt until the last day of school. He said ‘I have to tell you something’ and then for one week he kept trying to say it but would always back out. Finally I went upto him and said ‘look just say it…I’m sure the answer will be positive’ and that’s when he told me he liked me.”