Shalini Pandey received praise for her role in Maharaj, which also featured Junaid Khan, the eldest son of Aamir Khan, making his acting debut. At the Bollywood Hungama-hosted actress roundtable, Shalini recalled a humorous moment in which Aamir Khan texted her without warning and she was unaware that it was him.
Shalini recalled the amusing incident of meeting Aamir Khan and stated: “I will tell you a funny story because I just remembered that what she [Nitanshi] is saying is so absolutely true about Aamir Sir… Now I have worked with Junaid so he is my friend and we were supposed to go to a party and he [Aamir] texted me saying, ‘Are you coming to the party?’ I was like, ‘Who is this?’ He was like, ‘Junaid’s dad.’ I was like, ‘Who’s Junaid’s dad?’ Then I was like oh! He said, ‘Aamir Khan!’”
Shalini added, “I said, ‘Sorry Sir!’ He started laughing and was like no, no… ‘Of course I am your uncle, I am Junaid’s dad!’ The way I asked because, for a minute, I forgot who is Junaid’s dad. Then I realized it is Aamir Khan!”
Shalini disclosed that it was for Maharaj’s success celebration, which was attended by the entire cast and crew.
In Maharaj, which also starred Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini portrayed Kishori. The Siddharth P. Malhotra-directed movie explored the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862. YRF Entertainment was in charge of producing it. In the movie, Junaid’s role exposes the immoral behavior and sexual abuse of his female followers by the titular Maharaj, performed by Jaideep. You may watch the movie on Netflix.
