MSG actor Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan: Lesser known facts

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, saint turned-director-actor Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan insisted on doing all his stunts himself. Speaking about the same, Ram Rahim Singh Ji has been quoted in the report as saying that “I used to be available for my followers a lot more during shooting. Most scenes in the film are real instances of me helping them. As far as the action is concerned, I performed all the stunts myself. It would be wrong to jeopardize someone else's life. A film of this scale would have normally taken a year to shoot but we wrapped in almost a week because of the support my followers gave me in erecting sets and getting background dancers. For one particular song, 76,000 people turned up and the response is immensely heartening." However, the director, producer and actor of the film, Ram Rahim Singh does accept that his film is not entirely factual. "The story of the film is largely true but, at places, we have blended fact with fiction to add the saleable values in the movie," the report quoted the saint as stating.

The film is all set to release on Friday 13, after Ram Rahim assured that there is nothing objectionable in his movie, adding that there was not a 'single word against any religion, caste or community' in the film. He insisted that the film will not promote any superstition or obscurantism and is based on real incidents. Read on to know what the controversy was all about...

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan aka Rockstar Baba's film MSG: The Messenger was supposed to release on January 17, 2015. However, according to reports, the CBFC's revising committee has refused a certificate to the film saying it promotes blind faith and superstition. MSG: The Messenger has been co-directed by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Jeetu Arora, wherein Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh plays the lead role. But with so much controversy surrounding the film's release, there is curiosity regarding this Rockstar Baba as not much is known about him.

Read on to find out some lesser known facts about the spiritual guru who has a massive following and is hugely popular across India. In fact, his film not being passed by the Censor Board has found support amongst tweeple and the hashtag #iSupportMSG and #WeLoveMSG have become trending topics on Twitter.

According to his official website, he is referred to as His Excellency, Hazoor Maharaj Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan. He was born in Rajasthan to Sardar Maghar Singh Ji and Naseeb Kaur Ji Insan. Though he was born in a Sikh family, he does not adhere to any particular religion. He is the head of the India-based socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda since September 23, 1990 and has 50 million supporters from the Dera Sacha Sauda sect (as reported on Business2community.com). He has adopted the glorious method of meditation from Param Pita Shah Satnam Ji Maharaj.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insan has a long list of talents to his credit that range from from music to engineering, from sports to agriculture, from spiritualism to science. He is also said to play a wide range of sports that include volleyball, netball, throwball, kabaddi, lawn tennis, cricket, football, billiards, table tennis, snooker, shooting ball, yoga, basketball, water polo among others. (As reported on his official website)

But did you know that this Rockstar Baba, who is making his Bollywood debut, has many other talents too apart from acting? His official website states that he is a fashion designer, a magazine designer, automobile designer, interior and exterior decorator and landscape designer and a cook who has created a wide range of recipes.

As a head of the Dera sect, he enjoys immense popularity and is known for his many initiatives including his drive to eradicate forced prostitution from society and rescue them from high risk groups. Reportedly, he also treats them as his spiritual foster daughters and arranges for their treatment from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. His official website states that on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's call, 1500 young men volunteered to marry these women and many of these marriages have actually taken place.

He is an avid peace lover and volunteer and is said to encourage his followers to free birds and release snakes into the jungle that are found in his ashram. According to his official website, Guruji (as he is also lovingly called), is said to be an anti-discrimination leader, educationist, anti-population crusader, de-addiction specialist, low cost housing expert, among other key titles. He has also made it to the Guinness Book of world records and holds a total of 16 titles. These include, Guinness World Record for Largest Vegetable Mosaic, Guinness World Record in the Largest Finger Painting, Guinness World Record in Most People Sanitizing Their Hands, and Guinness World Record for Largest Human Droplet.

For his film MSG: The Messenger, he has written, composed and performed his own music, that is often described as religious rock. His song 'Love charger' from the album Highway Love Charger has had 1 million views online and is said to have sold almost thirty lakh copies in three days. As per a report on IMDB, Singh's debut film took only 67 days to complete shooting and the trailer has received over 2.2 million views till date.

According to a report on Dailymail.co.uk, in 2002, Singh and his Dera allegedly came under investigation in connection with the charges of sexual exploitation of women followers of the sect, and the murder of a journalist Ram Chander Chatrapati. The allegations started in May 2002 after an anonymous letter, alleging sexual exploitation, was addressed to the Prime Minister and its copies had been marked to several other bodies.

According to a report on Indiaopines.com, Singh has been in the news for several reasons and was accused of allegedly forcing around 400 men followers to castrate themselves in order to make them his slaves. He was also accused of allegedly murdering his driver Faqir Chand, where a CBI special court apparently cleared him of all charges.

According to a report on Indiaopines.com, he is said to be close to militant Gurjant Singh Rajasthani of the much feared Khalistan Liberation Force. Further to reports, it is said that he enjoys VVIP Status and a Z – level security cover. Singh reportedly drives a Range Rover SUV. In fact, hundreds of vehicles are allegedly said to follow him wherever he goes. In these 100, there are 16 black Ford Endeavours. His entourage is also said to include a number of female followers.