Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS): Bollywood actor Sikandar Kher, who is known for his character Daulat in the streaming show 'Aarya', recently got a souvenir in the form of an autographed photograph of Rakesh Sharma from the astronaut himself.

Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go into space on April 3, 1984. He spent seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes aboard the Salyut 7 space station. With Sharma's space voyage, India became the 14th nation in the world to send a man to outer space. Currently, Rakesh lives in Patiala with his family.

Opening up on how he got the prized possession, Sikandar said: "His son Kapil Sharma is a filmmaker and is also a close friend of mine. He is also one of the directors of 'Aarya'. I am a huge space buff. And for the longest time, I didn't know that he was Rakesh Sharma's son."

He said further: "When I got to know I was over the moon and told him that I really need an autograph from this man." Thanking Kapil, he said: "Your dad is a true rock(et) star.