In the early 1960s, a young and handsome student in Pune University harboured a secret ambition: to become a star in Bollywood. Over the years, the Bollywood dreams of Vilasrao Dagadoji Deshmukh crumbled although he resembled an upcoming star of those times, Shatrughan Sinha, and whose dialogue delivery he imitated to regale friends.

Instead, Deshmukh became a rising star in politics, starting with his native Latur district and going on to star on the national stage. The double graduate-cum-lawyer became one of the youngest sarpanches at age 29 in 1974.