Among all the horses serving in the Mounted Unit of West Kutch Police, one mare is a bit special. The reason behind this special treatment is, Rekha played an important role in the super hit film ‘Lagaan’ released at the beginning of this century.
If somebody wants to trace out the role of the Rekha, thet can identify the same mare on which the British princess Elizabeth used to convey information to the Indians. Since 1995, Rekha has served in the Mounted Unit of the West Kutch Police Department and has been serving the police department for the past six years after her retirement.
In 1995, when the horses purchased by the DGP of Gujarat Police were allotted to various police departments, the West Kutch Police had no idea that the Rekha assigned to them would play a key role in such a super hit film. In 2000, when the entire team came to Kutch to shoot Lagaan, they took help from the Mounted Unit of the West Kutch Police. For the shooting, four-five horses were employed but among all the horses, Rekha played the most important role.
Of all the horses that played a role in Lagaan, only Rekha is alive. For 22 years since 1995, Rekha has brought laurels to the West Kutch Police in sports like barrel race, tent pegging, besides performing police patrol duty. Female horses in Rekha’s second generation Mangala and third generation Saina and Shyamli also serve in the police department today and attend national police meets from West Kutch.
Generally, the average age of horses is 25 to 30 years, but Rekha has exceeded this age and now she is 32 years old today. In this due course of time, she has become old yet she is all healthy and still does not fall ill. After serving her entire life in the police department, Rekha is now retired from the past seven years and now West Kutch Police is looking after her.
The days of Lagaan shooting are still in the memory of the soldiers of West Kutch Police as these soldiers still remember the days of the shooting of the film Lagaan. Kanak Singh Jethwa, who was on duty with Rekha in 1995, said: “When we used to go to film sets with horses, the entire team used to treat us like his family. Aamir Khan used to visit us many times even after the shooting was over and even bring jaggery for the horses. Not only this, he even came to invite us for the premiere show of the film.”
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