Dagdi Chawl is proud to announce the marriage of Yogita Gawli tomorrow with the handsome Marathi film and TV actor Akshay Waghmare of Pune. It will be a locked down affair, naturally, with only the families and close friends of the bride and groom in attendance. The venue, again – but naturally, will be the infamous fortress-like residence Dagdi Chawl in Saat Rasta, Mumbai, of the bride’s father Arun Gawli – the former underworld don-turned-politician now a jailbird housed in Nagpur’s Central Prison for involvement in the murder of Shiv Sena councilor Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007.
This might have been a starry affair because before the Mumbai Police ended his reign, Gawli had most of Bollywood paying obeisance to him, and was reported to extort protection money from producers. An invitation from him could hardly be ignored. But Covid-19 cancelled all plans for the celebrity wedding initially slated for March 29. The groom, Akshay Waghmare, would have pulled in his own lot of famous faces being a Marathi star and coming from the family of the legendary Marathi actor, comedian and filmmaker Dada Kondke. But both families have to settle for a quiet, low-key affair.
They had to get permission from the Mumbai and Pune police to have the wedding. That came on Tuesday by email. So the Gawlis and Waghmares, who had done all their wedding shopping for the March 29 date, decided not to waste any time and solemnize the matrimony tomorrow. There was no last-minute preparations to do. It was all in place. The biggest blessing of all will be the presence of Arun Gawli tomorrow. He had applied for parole in March that got extended with the Covid-19 lockdown. Otherwise, Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal could have stepped in to give away the bride. He played Arun Gawli in the Bollywood biopic and political crime-drama Daddy in 2017. What’s one more role in the day of a Bollywood actor accustomed to playing so many!
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