Indian cricket team’s first captain inspired Diljit Dosanjh’s Met Gala look: Owned 44 Rolls Royces, has a Lagaan connect | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

Who was Bhupinder Singh

Born in 1891 in the Jat Sikh Phulkian dynasty, Bhupinder Singh was the son of Maharaja Rajinder Singh of Patiala. Upon his father’s death, he became the ruler of Patiala State in 1900 at the age of nine. And while, as the ruler of Patiala, he was an influential figure in India, outside the country, he is best known for his contributions to cricket and the Allied World War I efforts.

Bhupinder Singh’s cricket career and Lagaan connect

Bhupinder Singh made his top-flight cricket debut in 1911 when he was appointed the captain of the first-ever Indian team to tour England. The 19-year-old led the side that played 23 games in England. But none of those games were official Tests (only three were first-class, for that matter). The tour, however, served in part as inspiration for Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan. The matches, along with the ones played a Parsee cricket team in the 19th centtury, were the inspiration behind the fictional match in the Oscar-nominated film. The character of Kachra in the Aamir Khan-starrer was openly based on Palwankar Baloo, the first Dalit to play for India, whom Bhupinder Singh captained on multiple occasions.

Bhupinder Singh played 27 first-class matches from 1915-37, appearing for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1926-27. In 1932, he was appointed the captain of the Indian team that was to tour England to play the country’s first-ever Test. However, the 40-year-old withdrew due to health and fitness issues. The Maharaja also had a key role in the founding of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and it was he who named the country’s premier first-class competition the Ranji Trophy, after he donated the trophy in honour of India’s first Test cricketer – Maharaja Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar.

The Maharaja of Patiala’s famous opulence

During his lifetime, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh was known for his extravagant lifestyle. The Maharaja famously owned a fleet of 44 Rolls-Royce cars and had the world’s largest collection of medals. In 1928, he commissioned Cartier to make him a diamond necklace that weighed 1,000 carats — the largest necklace the French jeweller had ever made. The Patiala necklace, containing a staggering 2900 diamonds, is estimated to be worth around $2.5 billion today. In addition, the Maharaja was the first Indian to own a private plane and airstrip.

How Bhupinder Singh inspired Diljit Dosanjh

Diljit’s team revealed that they wanted the homage to Maharaja Bhupinder Singh to hit closer by actually wearing the Maharaja’s personal jewellery, but were denied. The New York Times noted that Diljit’s stylist, Abhilasha Devnani, ‘tried to borrow that iconic Cartier necklace for the night’ but was told that ‘it sits sealed in a museum’. Eventually, she commissioned the Indian jeweller Golecha to create jewellery inspired by the prince’s collection, including a turban brooch. Yet, despite that one dissimilarity, Diljit’s Dosanjh was a modern take on Bhupinder Singh’s iconic white outfit from the 20s and 30s.

Apart from Diljit, the 2025 Met Gala saw Indian representation from Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Kiara Advani, and designers Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, and Prabal Gurung. Socialites Natasha Poonawala and Isha Ambani were also present.