Lagaan was no ordinary movie and as it clocks 20 years today, Aamir Khan recalls the joyride of a film. In a zoom interview with news agency PTI, the actor shared his experience of working in the Ashutosh Gowariker-directed film that ended up getting an Oscar nomination. While the film's milestones are well-known to most fans, the actor talked about the lesser known aspects of making the film and the involvement of his ex-wife Reena Dutta and his present wife Kiran Rao in the film. According to Aamir Khan, Reena Dutta, the film's producer, did a stellar job and that the letter she wrote for the film's team tops his list of "favourite" memories. Aamir Khan told PTI: "She was a computer science graduate and did not know anything about producing. But she went and met people in the industry and really learned the ropes. I saw her bloom as a confident producer during the film. The thank you letter that she wrote to the cast and crew touched my heart. That's my favourite memory."
Speaking of filmmaker Kiran Rao's involvement in the project, Aamir Khan revealed that the silver earrings that his character Bhuvan wears in the film actually belonged to his wife Kiran Rao, who was an assistant director on the film. Aamir recalled that he didn't know her that well back then. "I did not know her very well. We had just met once or twice," he said. This how their conversation happened: "When I saw her earrings, I was like, 'Yaar, ye earrings mujhe theek lag rahe hain'(they seem perfect). But Kiran said, 'If it comes to continuity, you won't have them'. I was like, 'We will give you new ones. Let me try this' So she gave me her earrings and when I put them on, they were perfect."
Besides Aamir Khan, Lagaan, featured Gracy Singh as his love interest. The film also started theatre and film veterans Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajendra Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Rajesh Vivek, Pradeep Rawat and British actors Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne - all of them became memorable screen characters forever.
Shot in Gujarat, Lagaan was set in the Victorian era and it showcased the story of a small village where the locals were oppressed by high tax rates. The officers and the locals play a game of cricket as a wager to avoid taxes. The making of the film, quite an interesting process, deserves a different story altogether (some other time).
(With inputs from PTI)